


The Phantoms Amoung Us

by Riddlersroad



Series: Phantom BNHA series [1]
Category: Danny Phantom, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead is Shinsou Hitoshi's Parent, F/M, Gen, Hitoshi is a gay mess, Vigilante Midoriya Izuku, a giant mess of a story, eventual shipping, please don't be mean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2020-08-13 03:38:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 114
Words: 104,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20167525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riddlersroad/pseuds/Riddlersroad
Summary: Young Danny Phantom. He was just 13, when his parents built a very dangerous machine, It was meant to understand the quirks unseen. When it didn’t quite work, his parents just quit, so Danny took a look inside of it. There was a great big flash, everything changed. His molecules got all rearranged!OrDanny Fenton and his two friends are normal middle schoolers by day and vigilantes by night.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first story on this sight, I don't really know what i'm doing. if I make a mistake just tell me and i'll fix it.
> 
> I gonna try to use the events and characters from both shows and twist them a bit. 
> 
> * this star will be in front of anything said in English. Jack and Sam's father are both from America so they speak only a little bit of Japanese.

_ Young Danny Phantom  _

_ He was just 13 _

_ When his parents a very _

_ Dangerous machine _

_ It was meant to understand _

_ The quirks unseen _

_ When it didn’t quite work  _

_ His parents just quit _

_ So Danny took a look _

_ Inside of it _

_ There was a great big flash _

_ Everything changed _

_ His molecules got all rearranged.  _

_ When he first woke up realized _

_ He had snow white hair and  _

_ glowing green eyes. _

_ He could walk through walls _

_ Disappear and fly _

_ He was much more unique than the other guys _

_ It was then that he knew what he had to do _

_ He had to stop all the villains that were  _

_ Coming to _

_ He’s here to fight for me and you _

_ Danny Fenton, the son of an American man and Japanese woman. They moved to Japan when Danny was three. The parents, Jack and Yurei Fenton. Jack’s quirk is a minor strength and size enhancer (mutant) while Yurei has an intelligence booster. Jazz, Danny’s older sister, also has an intelligence boosting quirk. Danny, sadly, was born quirkless. The Fenton’s are well known Quirk researchers, who work with heroes and citizens alike to learn about control or improving their powers. _

_ Right around the time Danny turned thirteen, there was a lab accident and he was given the abilities from DNA samples stockpiled in the machine.  _

Right now, however, Danny was to busy trying to hide his intangible arm to worry about how he got his powers. His mother hovered over a machine that was supposed to detect mutation type quirks. Jazz hid behind her book, breakfast left forgotten as she tried to dodge the sparks coming off the machine. 

“Two more days and it’ll be finished!” Yurei said cheerfully. Jack, with his selective hearing, practically jumped for joy and snatched it out of her hands. Jazz looked at them in disgust and held her book up higher in front of her face.

“It’s done?! Great!” He switched it on. Since they’d programmed it to not detect Jack, mostly because it would be distracting during test runs, the machine picked up Danny instead. Both parents slowly made their way forward while Danny hid his arm and backed into a wall.

_ “Mutation type straight ahead-”  _ the machine said. 

“Well this can’t be right… there must be a bug in the system!” Yurei said, taking back the machine. She began taking the back of it apart while Danny’s face fell.

“Actually, there’s something I need to tell you guys-”

“You don’t need to tell them anything, Danny!” Jazz finally spoke up, standing from her spot and making her way over to stand between him and his parents. “Danny is at a very impressionable age and you two using him like a labrat isn’t going to help any! Come on, little brother, I’ll walk you to school.” Danny sometimes forgot the difference between his sister’s intelligence and his mother’s. While Yurei had chosen to focus all her mind on machines and quirks, Jazz had learned everything she could on psychology and child development. The two siblings had been best friends until Danny was ten and started avoiding his family.

It’s not that the boy hated them or anything, it’s just that they are a reminder. He’d been quirkless, bullied at school for it… treated like he was worthless. Now, even though he has powers (though, admittedly, difficult to control) he couldn’t tell them. If they found out a machine they built had given him powers… what would happen to him? Lab rat? Science experiment? Most kids his age worried about grades, not about being dissected by white coats- I mean scientists… 

Anyways, there were always two people that Danny could rely on. The only two people in all the world besides him that knew about his strange quirks.

Sam Manson, who was also a half American who came to Japan when she was three, and Izuku Midoriya. Izuku was also quirkless, though he had a habit similar to Jazz, which made them think maybe he did have an intelligence quirk. Mumbling aloud because he can’t contain it all in his head. Jazz had given him a few pointers to help break the habit that she’d done when she was younger. It helped a little bit.

Sam  _ did _ have a quirk, however. She had telepathy and could hold conversations with people completely with her power. There was one condition, though, and that was that she couldn’t read people’s minds unless somebody let her. For Danny it felt like a small push. Instinctively, you put up a wall against it, but if you know what’s going on you can drop the wall and let her in. She also had the ability to sense people’s minds and emotions, but she usually tried to block it out.

Izuku’s green hair caught Danny’s sight and the boys hurried to greet each other. The school year would be more fun than the year before since the school finally decided to stop splitting up the girls and boys. Danny, Izuku, and Sam finally got to have all their classes together. Well, mostly.

Sam smiled as they greeted each other. She was really pushing against the dress code. Her black hair, which was, honestly, probably dyed, was cut shorter and mostly put back into a ponytail so that her earrings would show. While the uniform itself was just a black button up shirt and black pants for boys and long skirt for girls, she’d left the shirt unbuttoned to show off a black and purple half shirt underneath. She also wore purple leggings and black combat boots. Her purple lipstick matched her eyes. 

Danny got a bad feeling she was gonna get in trouble for the outfit.

Danny noticed an angry- looking teacher making his way over. He recognized the teacher as their homeroom teacher, though they had yet to learn his name since there hadn’t been any classes. He was obviously angry with Sam’s outfit. A small nudge at Danny’s mind made him open up to the telepath.

“ _ Yo, Danny, I’m gonna get in trouble I bet-” _

_ “No, it’s fine, just cover me for a moment.” _

Danny hid around the corner of the building, changing as soon as he was out of everybody’s sight. A black and white halo surrounded his torso, expanding up and down over his head and under his feet. His black hair turned white, blue eyes turned to a glowing green, and his school uniform disappeared in exchange for a black jumpsuit with white boots, gloves, collar, and belt. He’d noticed a few weeks ago, with help from Izuku’s continuous questions, that if he attached something to his uniform and then turn back, the item would still be there. A white symbol was on his chest, courtesy of Sam’s creativity.

He listened to the conversation between the teacher and Sam for a second, then turned invisible and flew over. It was new ability he’d learned thanks to Izuku’s nagging. 

Danny entered the teacher’s body, immediately hating it. Overshadowing (as Izuku dubbed it) let him take temporary control over people. There was a tell, of course, and the teacher’s eyes glowed green, but imprinting thoughts into the man was easier than dealing with a grumpy Sam.

“I mean, okay… your outfit isn’t  _ that _ bad, dress code wise,” the teacher was forced to say. Seeing as he didn’t fight against Danny, he must not have cared as much as previously thought. The words made since in the teachers mind, and Danny exited the body before it walked away.   


Sam smiled. Her black choker which had been a gift from Danny for her birthday, had been taken off anyways. Jewelry was against the rules, so she decided not to push it. 

“Ready to go?” Izuku said, fidgeting with something on his tablet. Sam had bought it for him right after Danny got his powers. All three kids headed inside, and Izuku didn’t look up from his device until they were near the class. “Hey, Danny, y-you should look out for cameras more. You know they’ve got them all over the school.”

  
Danny groaned, face palming. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even think about that. Did you get it off?” Izuku smiled and nodded, motioning towards the device in his hands. 


	2. Rise to the Occasion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the trio make plans to track down villains who escaped idiot policemen

The school day went by quick and painlessly. Homework wouldn’t be given out until a couple days later since it was the first day. Right now they were just getting their books, learning the rules… you know, boring, useless stuff. Danny told Izuku some of the new projects his parents were working on. Among them was a newer, more reliable quirk suppressants. They had gotten some permission from some pro hero that had an erasure quirk.

“ERASURE!? OH MY GOD IS IT-”

“Izuku stop yelling,” Danny interrupted. Not surprisingly, Izuku had begun digging through his backpack and pulled out his tablet. He’d started copying his hero analysis inside after writing things in his notebook. His tablet was like a backup, and most of the stuff he wrote was coded so only the three of them could read it.

“Is it Eraserhead? The Erasure Hero? He’s underground, so I-I’d be surprised if your parents managed to convince him to help.”

“The hero agreed on the condition that they never share who he was. I’m not even sure if they met in person. I think that Nezu, whoever that is-”

“-He’s the principal of UA.”

“Okay. Well, I think he was the organizer of everything. He was the one who talked to them, and any samples my parents wanted were brought to them by somebody else. It was… rather complicated, to be honest.”

“Hey, you said they were working on some sort of quirk tracker, weren’t they?” Sam asked as they neared Danny’s home. The building was three stories tall with a giant satellite dish and metal building stacked on top. Fenton works, as the building’s sign named it, was both a home and a business. They made a lot of money, but most of it was wasted on projects that didn’t work. They had an entire shed in their backyard filled with useless junk.

“Yeah, why?” 

“Do you think it could be used to track specific quirks?” Sam looked towards Izuku, who stared at the ground in thought. He mumbled to himself incoherently, trying to figure it out. He didn’t stop until he ran into the front door of the home. He sputtered, holding his nose.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked while Danny struggled not to laugh. Izuku nodded, laughing softly at himself. As soon as they entered the house, they turned towards the living room. Jack was doing something… weird in the room. He was shaking a small tube like a can of hairspray. It was small, about the length of Danny’s hand and about two inches thick. 

* “Um… whatcha doing dad?” Danny said. Izuku looked at the roof, repeating the words to himself softly. Danny and Sam had both taught him a lot of english through the years since both their father’s spoke only in that language. 

* “This damn Jack o’ Nine Tails won’t-”

Before he could finish, a rope shot out of the front of it. Nine small claws unraveled and stuck to the ceiling light. An electrical current blew up the lightbulbs and stuck them all in complete darkness.

“This is why I always tell you to use natural light… from the windows…” Sam grumbled. Light returned when a window was opened. Jack tugged at the Jack o’ Nine Tails, only to pull the entire light down on accident.

“Oh well, in the shed you go! Danny! Put this in the shed, would you?”

Jack left the kids to clean up the mess. While Danny and Sam cleaned up the glass, while wearing rubber gloves of course, Izuku sat on the couch and took the machine apart. He took the weird sticker of Jack’s face off, then hurried to fix a few things.

“What are you doing, Izuku?” Danny sighed. 

“I’m fixing it, there’s just a small problem, should be easily remedied.”

Once everything was cleaned and Danny wrote a note that the light would have to be fixed, the kids hurried up to his room. It was a simple bedroom. A bed, a bookshelf, a dresser, and a desk. There was also a beanbag chair next to the bed, which Sam always claimed as soon as they entered. Izuku rolled the desk chair closer to the bed, were Danny was sitting.

“So, the plan?” Danny asked, taking the tablet already being handed to him. There was a file already on the screen. A mugshot of a woman with slicked back white hair. She was grinning at the camera with wild eyes. 

“Her name is Ranch Iredi, weird name, and her quirk is a strength enhancer. Her strength comes from the food she eats.” Danny could kind of tell. The woman was large. Not like fat, but just… big. “Her villain name is Lunch Lady, for some reason. She doesn’t ever seem to have any motive other than to terrorize people, namely children. She’s never harmed anybody, but she has demolished a few buildings.”

“You know where she’s gonna be?”

“Yeah. She escaped from custody with a few buddies.” Izuku took the tablet back and messed with it, then turned it around to show the other two. Two other people. “N-none of them are all that powerful, and they haven’t worked together before, so I’m pretty sure t-they all decided to just escape together. Something about their quirks made the regular quirk suppressants less effective.”

One man was dressed as a dock worker and was pouting, the other had dark brown hair and a bored expression. 

“How’d they escape?” Sam asked. She moved from her spot to sit beside Danny. Their shoulders touched and Sam shivered. 

“Well, the Box Man, or Bokku Suman, has weak telekinesis, so the quirk suppressants wore off faster-”

“Wait, I thought suppressants wore off stronger quirks faster…” Danny asked, confused.

“There are suppressants f-for different types of quirks. Su-some are meant for stronger quirks, some are meant for weaker ones. T-there was a safety added into the stronger ones back a few years ago when a villain died because of somebody overe-estimating his quirk. If you give somebody with a weak quirk a suppressant for powerful ones, then it would be like an overdose. So, nowadays, suppressants sorta… disappear or fade if the quirk is weaker than it should be. A-amazing in my opinion, though r-really flawed.”

“So, all three of them escaped because of this flaw and are now out reeking havoc?”

“Um, not yet. Lunch Lady only works at night, and the Box guy always attacks shipping companies. The brown haired guy is only a lowly drug dealer. His name is Kami Henka, His quirk is nothing, just the ability to change his hair length and color.”

“I wish I could do that,” Sam grumbled, pulling a lock of her hair forward to stare at it. Izuku smiled at her.

“You can, obviously, it just takes half an hour longer than him.” 

Sam snorted as Danny read the files. “You know, I’m not entirely sure these guys can be considered villains… more like wannabes. Maybe it’s not worth the trouble trying to catch them.”

Izuku looked surprised, then a little sad. “Why do you say that? They like to create chaos, even if they don’t harm people. Yeah, it’s easy, but th-that’s why you should! It’s easy for you but not some other heroes, you know?”

Danny nodded.

“Tonight then. We should go down to the lab and work out how to use that Jack o’ Nine Tails, you guys might need it. Actually, we should really change that name. Maybe just tails?”

Sam nodded, Izuku stared at the weapon like it held the secrets of the universe. 

Danny changed his from and grabbed his friends, turning them all invisible and dropping them down through the floors until they stood in the lab. He turned switched on the lights.

“Really? You had to use your powers?”

“If my parents saw us come down they would question what we were doing.” Danny shrugged. “And, besides, it’s good practice, practice we all know I need. I’m still not good at controlling my powers. Just this morning my arm turned intangible and I nearly blew everything! I don’t want to think about what my parents would do if they found out I was a vigilante.”

Izuku sat on the floor in the middle of the room and began messing with his tablet, trying to track down the villains. Meanwhile, Danny practiced with his flying and turning intangible at will. While intangible he’s nearly invisible, though you can still see his eyes and some sorta shadow of his clothes. He can turn completely invisible as well, and often uses it to escape heroes who nearly see him. 

“Are those quirk suppressors your parents are working on nearly finished.” Sam asked.

“They finished, I think. At least with the first attempt. They sent them to Nezu, who is getting them tested further. Nezu and my parents get along well, I guess?”

Sam tried the Nine Tails a couple times but decided to instead dig around a box of forgotten trinkets. They were mostly things that the Fentons had built but decided weren’t useful enough or wouldn’t sell well. She eventually found a small lipstick. She looked confused at first, then surprised when she pulled the lid off and found it was almost the same shade as her own. Danny chuckled nervously and looked away.

“I asked my parents to make that. I told them they’d never be able to make your lipstick cooler than it already was. Dad took it as a challenge. I’d actually been wondering where that went, it went missing last week before I could take it.”

“What’s it do?”

“There are two buttons on either side, press them and a beam shoots out. It works like a sort of taser that works from a larger distance. If the lid is on it won’t work though.”

Sam smiled and stuck the lipstick into the pocket of her skirt. Izuku ended up claiming the Nine Tails. Both of them used a sharpie to color out the Fenton stamp.

Sam and Izuku stayed the night, but none of them really slept much. In bed by five, out of the house by midnight. With Sam’s powerful telepathy, all three of them could have conversations mentally from blocks away. 

“This’ll be good,” Danny grinned, watching as the lunch lady and the box man held a conversation right outside a warehouse.


	3. Suit Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the gang gets their suits.

Sam and Izuku sat at the top of a roof, watching through Fenton Binoculars as Lunch Lady and the Box Man head inside. They had some sort of argument, yet hadn’t raised their voices in the slightest. Danny was down there, already in his ghost form. He looked… weird through the binoculars. Sort of semi-transparent. He seemed to flicker, probably because of how little control he had over his powers still.

_ “Danny, go now, they are on the other side of the warehouse.” _ Sam told telepathically. 

Danny did as he was told and was soon sliding through a wall invisible. Lunch Lady and the Box Man were busy using their quirk to move boxes with desirable contents into a small moving truck.

“Hey! I don’t think those belong to you!” Danny yelled. He stayed invisible, watching the two villains drop everything to try and find him instead. The teen snickered, but stopped and yelped when the Box Man used his powers to throw him through the air and into a wall. 

_ “Danny?! Danny are you alright?!” _ Sam’s startled voice piped up in his head. He groaned and stood up, pulling a long chain off the ground as he did so. Lunch Lady somehow found a crowbar and rushed over to try and clober him with it. 

“Seriously? A crowbar?” he turned intangible and the villain passed right through him. He would’ve laughed, but Box Man through him through the air and into a shelf. 

_ “Danny you need to leave-” _

_ “I’m fine-” _

_ “DANNY YOU NEED TO LEAVE RIGHT NOW!” _ Izuku cried. The voice was so loud it startled Danny into turning invisible. Good thing, too, because he finally noticed what had scared his friends so badly. Eraserhead stood on the roof, staring around at the villains. Luckily, Danny was hidden by the shelf so the hero couldn’t see him.

Danny disappeared through the floor and hurried to where his friends were waiting. They continued watching through the binoculars, even after he’d landed to sit next to them. He didn’t need any gadgets to be able to watch the hero do his work. It took less than a minute for him to knock out the two villains. As he exited the building, his head snapped up at them, startling them all and causing them to tumble backwards. 

“We need to go,” Izuku said, standing up. He silently thanked Sam for making him wear a black hat that matched her’s. Both of them also wore a bandana over their mouths to make up for the masks they had yet to finish. 

Sam and Izuku wrapped their arms around Danny, turning invisible right as Eraserhead somehow flung himself onto the roof of the building. He looked around, eyes practically glowing red as he tried to find the kids. Danny silently turned them intangible and they all slipped through the ground.

With the villains caught for the night, they all returned to Danny’s home and sat in the lab quietly. Danny and Sam helped Izuku as much as possible, but, for the most part, stayed out of his way. Danny looked through files on the tablet for any other villains that needed to be caught, Sam worked on modifying some of Yurei’s old jumpsuits so that they would better suit her and Izuku when they went out. Izuku worked on masks for him and Sam. Time seemed to pass slowly, but soon Sam held up her outfit proudly. Izuku finished his work on the gas masks soon after.

Sam’s outfit was a half shirt with Danny’s symbol on her chest. The shirt and pants were a dark purple. Her mask was purple as well, and the eyes bulged slightly with a thick black one way glass. The mask was metal, but not that thick. Izuku managed to make it filter out impurities like a gasmask, just not as strong as his own. She wore a black leather coat over it that fell all the way to her knees. Her black boots stayed, and a pair of black gloves joined.

Izuku’s mask was a gas mask with a smile painted on. He wore a hat that was, technically, a helmet that clipped under his chin. Rabbit ears that flopped only slightly sat on his head. He would later confess that they could pick up and record things then send them to his tablet or phone. His jumpsuit was green and the sleeves cut off at the elbows. He had a belt around his waist that held pouches and a belt from his left shoulder to his right waist to put weapons. He had black boots, courtesy of Sam’s wallet, and black gloves. Danny’s symbol sat on his chest.

Around five in the morning they all snuck back to Danny’s room and fell asleep on the mess of sheets and sleeping bags they usually piled on the floor as a giant bed. For now, the suits sat in Sam’s bag.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like my chapters are getting shorter and shorter...
> 
> sorry.


	4. Bully

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a short chapter about how Danny and Izuku's lives are hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry! It's short!

Bakugou is a bully.

Bakugou is the worst bully in the entire school. 

Danny stood between him and Izuku, something he’d started doing years ago. All it does is make the bully angrier, attacking him as well, but by the time he finished beating Danny to a pulp, he was over his anger and ignored Izuku besides a few venomous words spit towards him. 

Danny held an ice pack to his black and swollen eye. Izuku and Sam both draped an arm over him, guiding the boy through the streets so he didn’t run into something. For the past fifteen minutes they’d been relying on Sam’s quirk since Danny’s lip was fat and painful to move.

_ “Remind me again why you two refuse to speak to an adult about this?” _ Sam snarled.

_ “You know they won’t do anything. Nobody ever does.” _ Izuku wrapped his free arm around his torso, wincing at the pain. He would have a gnarly bruise for sure, but hopefully it would be at least a little better before his training session with Sam later that day. 

_ “I’ll be fine, it’s just a few bruises,” _ Danny sighed and winced. His ribs hurt… but that could’ve been from that shelf falling on him too. It was possible he had a concussion, but they all knew not to take him to the hospital. His powers activating at random times would give him away.

As usual, the three kids were heading to Fenton Works after school. They would head off to “work” earlier than usual since it was a friday and they had no school the next day. 

_ “What about your parents?”  _

_ “Gone to talk with Nezu or whoever about those quirk suppressants.” _

Danny left a note on his nightstand saying he was going to an arcade with his friends, then they all hurried to get changed (except for Danny, who just put on a simple black gasmask that Izuku handed him).

Funnily, the gas mask on Danny’s face turned white when he transformed. It was...odd. He wasn’t expecting the item to transform with him, seeing as his usual clothes just...disappear, along with any item he was carrying. 

“Maybe it’s because you  _ wanted _ to keep it on?” Izuku said, shrugging. 

They were ready to go soon, but Danny held the ice pack to his eye even as they flew through the air and landed on a building near the more rundown part of the city. On the days Izuku couldn’t find a specific villain to chase after, they would just patrol the areas with less heroes. 

Not even five minutes into patrol, Danny was inside a gas station, taking down a robber armed with only a gun. Not so much a villain as a moron- he wasn’t even wearing a mask! The employees thanked Danny before he disappeared from sight.

\----

Eraserhead stared at the file in his hands. It wasn’t much, but it was useful. The kids he’d seen during his little recapturing were definitely the vigilantes that popped up about three months ago. They were difficult to find, especially the two that seemed to work from the sidelines. Inviso-Bill, as the internet dubbed him, looked no older than fourteen. His snow white hair and glowing green eyes, along with the long list of powers, should’ve made it easy to track him down. Whoever the kid was, he wasn’t in any records.

The hero let out a long groan. Just his luck, huh? A new school year, one with a class that he already knew would be troublesome, and he was tracking down a middle schooler in his free time. An extremely powerful one at that.

Despite his annoyance, he couldn’t help but worry about the boy. The hero knew that the kid, whoever he was, was inexperienced. How many times did that boy get injured while out fighting villains? The only thing that eased Eraserhead’s mind was that many heroes were told about the vigilante. A couple others, like Kamui Woods, were working to find the vigilante. They didn’t want to arrest the boy… they wanted to help him.

If only Danny knew that.


	5. Dance Dance Revolution (lol)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the kids prepare for a dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember the star (*) is before sentences in English.
> 
> i'm not the best artist, but I hope the sketches of Sam and Izuku's costumes are alright.

**** <strike></strike>

Only a week after school’s started and Danny is already getting into trouble.

So, okay, I’ll try my best to explain it as simply as possible. (*clears throat*)

“Danny lost his pants!” Somebody in the crowd yelled.

There you have it.

Sam and Izuku moved to stand in front of their friend as he pulled his pants back up. He didn’t have a belt, though he probably should’ve, so his pants fell down every time his powers activated accidently. Their homeroom teacher pushed through the crowd and glared down at Danny, who was, at this moment, holding his pants to make sure they didn’t fall again.

“Third time this year, Danny Fenton, I think it’s about time I talk to your parents.” Sam scowled, but the teacher didn’t seem to notice… or maybe he didn’t care. Danny just nodded and stared at the ground, trying not to lose his temper. 

The teacher left in a hurry, tossing a belt to Danny. No doubt the teacher had been waiting for Danny to lose his pants again.

_ “You alright Danny?” _

Danny nodded to Sam’s invisible question before looping the belt and tightening it as much as possible. As they hurried through the school to class, Sam stopped them and pointed out a small flier on the bulletin board.

“A ‘back-to-school-bash’? Who comes up with these names?” Danny laughed and took a quick picture of it on his phone. It wasn’t really a formal party, but there would be music and entertainment. You didn’t need to go as a couple, either, though it would be strange if you didn’t. This dance was the first one the school ever had, so it was probably because they now let the two genders interact.

“You guys got anybody you want to ask?” Sam said. Her voice was more cheerful than usual.

“You wanna go with me?” Danny asked. He hoped she didn’t realize he asked because he didn’t know any other girls. She smiled.

“Sure! How about you, Izuku?”

“Oh, uh, I’m not… I don’t know for sure…” 

“How about Paulina?” Danny shrugged. He’d had a crush on her during the summer, but never got the chance to talk to her. The young girl and long dark hair and sea green eyes. She usually didn’t follow dress code either, from the looks of it. Makeup, pink hair pins, and the ear piercings were all against the rules, but nobody cared. The girl didn’t look particularly japanese, and her accent made her sound like she was from Mexico or something. Her quirk, though not the most powerful, gave her the ability to change her body slightly. Got a zit? Not any more! Not happy with your weight? Buh bye fat! Danny didn’t think it was healthy how skinny the girl kept herself.

Izuku seemed like he was interested in Paulina though, which was strange. Izuku had never been the type to develop crushes. During their lunch break, the boy made his way to where she was sitting under a tree.

“Heya, Paulina, I just wanted to, uh, s-say hello!”

“Uh, hello?” 

Izuku shuffled closer, only to trip over his own feet. 

“Please don’t say you’ve fallen for me, that was _soooo_ last year.”

“Yeah, uh, I mean no! Uh, I mean-” Izuku stammered on with an apology, but Paulina looked more amused than anything.

“You must be the stuttering boy I’ve been hearing so much about. Bakugou says you’re quirkless, but I’d say your the weirdest one at school!”

Sam glared at Paulina before marching her way over. “Cudos Izuku, you’ve set an all knew record for drowning in the shallow end of the gene pool.” “Nuh-uh there is no way you just called me shallow- did you?!”

Danny laughed and stood on the other side of their embarrassed friend. “If you mean, does she think she could stand in a puddle full of you and not get her feet wet… then yes. Yes, she did.”

They started pulling Izuku away. 

“Shallow? I am not shallow!”

Sam and Danny did their best to cheer Izuku up, including sneaking away from school for the rest of their break to watch a villain battle not far away. It seemed to work, though Izuku had trouble figuring out exactly what the villain’s quirk was. It was a young woman that could breathe fire and had large scaled wings. She didn’t really steal anything or hurt any one, she just started spitting her bright blue flames into the air. She escaped the heroes without a scratch.

“We’ll see you later,” Danny said, dropping Izuku near his classroom. They all went separate ways. 

“You who! Izuku!” Paulina skipped up to the fourteen year old with her book in hand.

“P-Paulina, hi!” Izuku fiddled with his book, looking anywhere but the girl.

“So I got the feeling that you wanted to talk with me about something earlier before were so rudely interrupted.”

Izuku looked at her in surprise. “I, uh, I was going to ask if… I mean, only if you want to- uh-”

“Would you go to the school dance with me?” 

The boy blinked at her a couple times, his brain not processing what she’d said. Suddenly he smiled widely. “Yes! But, uh, aren’t the boys supposed to ask?”

“Just don’t tell anybody,” Paulina said, holding a finger over her mouth. “Shhh.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this story is moving along slowly... and I have difficulty writing longer chapters.


	6. Overshadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just a short chapter cause I wanted to

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know if there is any problems or questions.

Danny shuffled his feet. The teacher wanted to talk to his father, Jack, but Danny couldn’t find a way to break the bad news to his already frustrated father. He was busy messing with a fishing line, one that was supposed to neutralize quirks when it wrapped around somebody. The only problem, however, was that Jack kept getting tangled up in the glowing grey line.

*“Man, this has got to be the most frustrating thing ever! I swear, whoever brings me bad news will-”

“Nothing here! No bad news!” Danny yelped, hiding the slip from his teacher behind his back. Jack looked at him strangely. Luckily, Jack was a moron. 

“Well then, I’ll be getting back to- ugh- untangling myself!” Jack pulled at the line holding his wrists hostage. After a second of watching his father struggle, Danny reached over and helped. Jack celebrated his freedom and began spooling the line.

“Wait a minute…” Danny mumbled to himself. His face lit up and he stepped behind his father. 

When he was sure his father wouldn’t see, the boy turned intangible and overshadowed Jack. 

“Come on, dad, my teacher needs to talk to us!”   


Sam and Izuku didn’t know what to say the next day when Danny tried to explain his predicament. 

*“So, wait, you overshadowed your father… used that power to get your teacher off your back, then accidently set your father up to chaperone the school dance? Dude, how do you even mess up that badly?” Sam snorted. Izuku mumbled up towards the sky as he quickly deciphered everything she said.

* “Yeah, but the worst part, my dad doesn’t even know! I don’t know what to tell him!” Danny stabbed at his food with one hand and scratched the back of his head with the other. Izuku continued staring at the sky.

* “What if… you told him that… you volunteered him as the… what’s the word?” * “Chaperone. And yeah, that’ll work,” Danny nodded as he spoke. He scarfed down his food when he saw Bakugou walking towards them. * “Blasty, twelve ‘o clock.”

Sam snorted and looked Izuku’s watch as the boy looked over his shoulder at a raging Bakugou. “That’s not… nevermind.”

The three of them hurried to leave the table and head back inside, practically being chased by the explosive bully the entire way. Insults were thrown, the sound of small explosives followed them for a while, but, ultimately, the kids escaped unscathed.

“So, you and Paulina?” Danny teased, nudging Izuku’s shoulder with his own. Izuku blushed and hid his face.

“I- It’s not- we’re just going to the dance! Uh-”

“I’m just teasing you, I know she’s not… your type. You’ll have fun at the dance though, right?” 

Izuku nodded excitedly. It would be his first dance too, and he was exceptionally awkward around people his age. 

\----------

Eraserhead searched through all the security footage that had ever been taken of the vigilante. ten tapes… THAT’S IT?! 

All of them were from about three months ago, and they are only of Inviso-Bill, and only captured him for a few seconds while he was running or flying. After about a week into the vigilante’s debut, all security cameras would be shut off as he flew into or appeared in a building or alleyway. Eraserhead figured it had to be the other boy, one of the sidekicks, who, when spotted, had his nose buried in a tablet or phone.

“So, any news?” Tsukauchi, the detective in charge of this case, asked as Eraserhead rewound and rewatched a short section with the boy flying past a camera. He rewound it again slightly and paused it. The boys legs were gone, replaced by a long, slightly transparent tail.

“Another quirk? You’ve gotta be kidding me…” The detective sighed and began rubbing his eyes.

“That’s, what, five now?” Eraserhead scowled at the screen. Invisibility, enhanced strength and speed, intangibility, flight, and, now, his legs seem to turn into a tail if he goes fast enough? Maybe it was a side effect of his other powers?

“So… five quirks? Or maybe just two and we didn’t- maybe we misunderstood? Teleportation and flight, that could work-” The detective sounded hopeful, so much so that the hero almost felt bad about stomping on it. Almost.

“That doesn’t explain the time during when he disappears and reappears. Or the… tail.”

The detective spit out a few other theories that would prove he didn’t have more than one quirk, but each was disproven. It was obvious that the detective sincerely hoped that the boy didn’t actually have five quirks.

He was right, technically, since the heroes didn’t know about the overshadowing. 

  
  



	7. Spiders and Dragons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Danny search for the perfect outfits, then get attacked...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> long chapter. 
> 
> if you haven't figured it out by now, italics are used to show what is said through Sam's quirk.

Danny and Sam stand at the entrance to a store with their mouths agape. It was giant, and the formal clothing inside looked… intimidating. 

“Having trouble little listeners?” A man passing by asked. His own arms were full of bags from various stores.

“Nah, we just… aren’t sure if it’s necessary.” Sam gulped and looked back inside. The bright colors were nothing she would wear. If she stood in the store, she’d stand out like a sore thumb in the black and dark purples she wore. The man, however, wouldn’t look so strange with his bright, cheery colors. He looked like the human form of a ball of sunshine. He laughed, his blond haired bun bouncing slightly.

“Well, hey, what’s the occasion, I’m sure they can help you!”   


“It’s a school dance-” Danny broke off when another man caught up with the ball of sunshine. The two adults seemed like opposites, light and dark, happy and gloomy, sunshine and storm clouds.

It was annoying, really, that both kids recognized the newcomer.

_ “That’s Eraserhead. Oh fuck, oh shit-” _

Sam’s mental panic was stopped when the hero’s eyes lit up red and cancelled her quirk.  “I don’t know what your quirk is, but your eyes glow when you use it. Your old enough to know better than to use it in public.”

“Oh! Sorry, I have a mental quirk, it acts up when I’m nervous.” Sam pretended to act flustered, going as far as smiling and scratching the back of her head like Danny and Izuku do sometimes. It seemed to work though, because the hero let his quirk drop.

“My apologies, I overreacted,” he mumbled before turning to the sunshine man. “What are you doing anyways? You don’t need anything from this store.”

“Oh! These two are looking for clothes for a school dance! They seemed nervous so I was going to offer to help!” Eraserhead shrugged then turned back to the kids. 

“My name’s Aizawa, this is Yamada. If he makes you uncomfortable you can say so… he’s kinda strange.” 

Yamada pouted, but quickly returned to being a ball of sunshine.

“We’d love the help, actually. We’ve never, uh, done this before.” Sam linked her elbow with Danny’s and began dragging him into the store. Finding him a suit would be easier than finding a dress that Sam was happy wearing. The two men followed them in, though Aizawa looked like he didn’t want to be there. He looked at the bright dresses in disgust. Somehow, they ended up splitting up, Sam with Aizawa and Danny with Yamada. The first thing Sam did was slip on a pair of black sunglasses.  _“I didn’t know my eyes glowed when I used my quirk.”_

_ “I didn’t know anybody else could tell. I only started noticing they got brighter after I got my powers.”  _ Danny sighed at the happy face tie Yamada held up and, once again, explained that his date (Sam) was an American goth. Spiderwebs… death… anything halloween should work.

_"Eraserhead is absolutely no help, he fell asleep on a chair!" _ Sam grumbled.  _ “Damn, none of this’ll work! Maybe… should I ask for something halloweenish?”  _

Danny shrugged, then remembered she wouldn’t be able to see that. Yamada gave him a weird look, which the teen ignored. _ “Yeah, sure. If you find anything give me a rundown of what kind of tie would look good with it.” _

Danny stopped functioning when an employee, who had listened in on the conversations between him and Yamada, found the perfect suit for him in the back. He grinned, and Yamada sputtered questions on whether that would be appropriate for a school dance. 

The suit was black except for the spiderwebs covering, was the perfect size. Yamada looked disgusted by the large silver spiders that seemed to pop out of the fabric. A plain black tie and purple undershirt was found to finish off the outfit. 

On the other side of the store, Sam was met with a similar style. A dress, black, with spider web sleeves and a purple lace up front. Instead of renting the outfits, Sam bought them.

Of course, the fun was short lived when a familiar fire breathing villain attacked the mall. Not even, like, to steal something. The familiar woman just swooped down and burned a hole in a nearby store. 

“Run you two!” Yamada yelled, startling the two kids into action. 

_ “Over here!” _ Sam hissed, pulling the boy into a girl’s bathroom and shoving him into a stall with her before anybody could notice.  _ “Go! They might need your help!” _

_ “What about Eraserhead?!” _ Danny asked, even though he had already changed and flew out of the bathroom. The Dragon Lady was screaming about her mother being unfair, and Eraserhead’s quirk couldn’t stop her wings as she flew around breaking windows and occasionally, when the erasure quirk needed a break, setting things on fire.

“Hey, Dragon lady! Don’t you have anything better to do?” Danny was careful to stay out of Eraserhead’s line of sight. The gas mask made it difficult for the teen to speak clearly as well… maybe Izuku would be able to fix that. The Dragon lady screeched and darted towards him. 

Our little Danny, however, shot straight up into the sky with the villain hot on his tail… literally. He led her away from the people and quickly took her down. Even though the woman was powerful, she wasn’t a skilled fighter. Sam’s voice constantly piped up with information about what was going on there. Danny threw the unconscious woman on the ground outside the nearest police station and raced back to the mall while invisible.

_ “Danny, I’m gonna invite Eraserhead to the group chat, okay?” _

_“Yeah, sure.”_ It took a couple minutes of waiting for Eraserhead to enter.

_ “Are you injured?” _ was the first thing he said. He seemed… annoyed, but also worried. Strained. 

_ “We’re fine, but I saw that Inviso-Bill guy fly off. What’s with him?” _ Sam said as the two kids left the bathroom. There was a lot of damage, but nobody looked injured.

_ “Where are you? I need to talk to you.” _

_ “Ugh, you’re gonna question me aren’t you.” _ Sam groaned out loud.

_ “We are gonna ask questions, yes, but you aren’t in any trouble.” _ the ‘unless you try to run’ was left unsaid. 

_ “Fine, but you can’t tell my parents.” _

Sam grinned at Danny, who just glared at her. She would weave a story that would make them seem completely innocent. Maybe she’d make it so he was  _ never _ a suspect.

They came to a small ring of police and the two heroes from before. Eraserhead and Present Mic. A detective talked with them until the two teens were within sight. 

_ “Fuck-” _ Danny cut himself off when he remembered Eraserhead was in the chat.  _ “My parents are gonna kill me if they find out about this.” _

_"I told you, you aren’t in trouble.”_

_ “Fucking- god damnit, kick him out. I can’t think straight with a hero listening to my every thought.” _

Sam laughed aloud, startling the detective. Seeing as he didn’t look confused, it was possible that Eraserhead had told him her quirk. He pulled a mini- notepad and pen out. 

“My name is Naomasa Tsukauchi, I’m a detective. Would you tell me everything you saw involving the villain and the vigilante known as Invi-”

“God that’s such a stupid name!” Danny interrupted. “Couldn’t it have been Phantom? Or Ghost?”

“We didn’t give him the name-”

“Neither did he…” Danny grumbled. “Anyways, Phantom- since that’s  _ way  _ better than  _ Inviso-Bill _ \- flew through the wall of the bathroom we were hiding in. I ended up leaving the place I was sitting in to see the villain. Probably not the best idea, to be honest, but she was so far away! Sam used her quirk so we could communicate.”

The detective made a mark on his notepad. It looked like a simple line. Checkmark? 

“ Did you notice anything about the vigilante, like, say, his quirks?”   


Danny shrugged. “He can go through walls, disappear, and fly, what else should I know?”

“Did you notice anything about the way he looks or something out of the ordinary?”

“He’s a vigilante,  _ everything _ he does is out of the ordinary. But, I suppose his glowing green eyes are kinda spooky.”

“Alright, and, finally, did you see anybody that looked anything like him during your shopping trip.”

The kids hesitated too long.

“I… didn’t see anybody with white hair our age.” Danny replied. 

“The Phantom wore a mask.” Sam supplied. The detective narrowed his eyes at them and stuffed the notebook back in his pockets, along with his hands.

“Have you… ever met Invis- I mean, the Phantom?” _“Don’t answer that.”_ Danny said. He noticed Eraserhead glare at him.

_ “What do we say?” _

_ “Remember what Izuku said? They have a human lie detector somewhere in the police force. What if Tsukauchi is it?” _

“The Phantom said hi to me once after beating a mugger in an alleyway. Totally saved my life.” Sam replied finally. “Danny didn’t want to admit it, but he’s a total fan of the vigilante and keeps trying to convince the guy to take a photo with him.”

The detective sighed but nodded to the heroes, who seemed to visibly relax.

“Here, my card, call me if you ever get information on the vigilante.” Tsukauchi handed the cards to each of the kids. 

_ “Imma gonna burn mine, how about you?” _ Sam asked. Danny chuckled, staring at the card in his hands.

_"_ _ Bookmark.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if there are any problems or questions.


	8. Back to School Bash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny has a short rumble with a villain. when I say short, I mean they both got their asses kicked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short again, sorry.

The night of the dance came quicker than anybody anticipated. Danny and Sam arrived in their spiderweb- themed outfits, Izuku came alone, sadly. It seemed Paulina ditched him when she found out she wasn’t stealing him from anybody else. Apparently she thought he had been dating Bakugou. I don’t know what part of that was more insulting. 

As is usual with the selfless boy, Izuku didn’t let his emotions ruin anybody else’s night. In fact, he danced with Sam more than Danny did since the ghost boy was busy trying to keep his father from their homeroom teacher. The other staff member chaperoning was Mr. Lancer. He was their english teacher and often cursed in book titles. Sam’s favorite so far was _ “Great Okinawa Hauntings!” _which proved she was right about him not just obsessing over normal stories but also ghoulish ones.

Danny was running himself ragged as he flitted back and forth between his friends and family. Jazz was there too, hanging out with Bakugou for some reason. Even if she was just a year older than Danny, and therefore only a few months older than Bakugou, it still seemed weird that she would talk to somebody in the grade below her. No matter how weird and annoying it was to see his sister talking to his bully, Danny was just glad she wasn’t butting into his business for once. 

After the first half hour, everything began settling down. Danny readied himself to ask Sam to the next dance when everything went to shit.

Sam went still.

_ “Dragon Lady is back.” _

Danny ducked under a table and hid behind the table cloth as a window above the gymnasium shattered. He transformed and turned invisible as he crawled out and watched the villain.

“Monsters! Cretens!” 

Screaming and pushing ensued as the students ran from the room. An explosion was heard as Bakugou attacked the villain before she could snatch one of the children. The Dragon Lady screeched and flew the opposite way, spitting fire the entire way.

“Look out!” Danny screamed, flying over to knock one of his annoying classmates out of the way of a falling beam. The ghost boy hissed as the fire licked at his back, then froze as a scream echoed above the other students. “Sam!”

_“Danny help!_” Phantom didn’t think twice before chasing after the Dragon Lady and Sam, who was tangled in a rope that the villain held the ends of. 

“Can’t you find a hobby?! You know, you’d make a great forgemaster!” Danny wasn’t sure what he was saying, but it worked in making the villain stop and roar at him. Just what he wanted. A punch to her face made her roar and let go of the rope to grab her jaw. 

“Sam!” He cried, grabbing her before she could hit the grass of the football field. He set her down and hurried to where the villain had crashed landed. The Dragon Lady stood quickly and wasted no time in attacking Phantom. He was somewhat good at dodging, but the fire and heat radiating off her made him feel nauseous and weak. He was sent flying into one of the bleachers near Sam. 

“You’ve stolen the bride, return her to me!” The villain roared. Her wings spread wide for intimidation, then just as quickly enveloped her body like a comfort blanket. “Brother will be so angry-”

She went from angry to timid, then back again so quickly Phantom wondered if this was what wipblash felt like. He ended up deciding, no, this was what a concussion felt like. He was woozy and his vision blurred. The headache alone made him want to throw up, but he stepped in front of Sam. 

_ “Danny, can you hear me.” _

_ “BlegHairdoWhatis she evenWearing Damn.” _

_“Oh god what’s wrong with you-”_ _“What’s she evenWearingOhShit-”_ Danny picked Sam up and run as the Dragon screeched and charged for him. His brain felt fuzzing and he wondered what he was forgetting… yeah, he could fly but so could she… overshadowing is difficult ‘cause she’d just slash at him…

_“Flight, overshadow-”_ _“Danny what are you doing?”_

_“- ghost sense-”_ _“Danny you’re starting to worry me!”__  
_

_ “Invisibilty… Intangibility!” _

As the boy’s muddy mind cleared slightly he skidded to a stop. The villain passed right through them and hit the ground face first. She looked back and growled, only to look confused when she didn’t see the vigilante and the girl.

  
“What the fu-” “Freeze!” Somebody yelled. She did what they said involuntarily. Slowly, she turned to see Midnight and Kumai Woods with a few police officers behind them. Danny Phantom’s form flickered as he set his friend down behind the bleachers, out of the view of law enforcement. Sam tried not to scream when he fell over unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know, I absolutely love OCs, so if you have any I can throw them into the school as long as they aren't too powerful. or, if they are adults or heroes I would mention them in passing or something. I'd, of course, say who they belonged to at the end of the chapter.


	9. practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a short chapter to show what happens when the kids get free time.

Luckily, though it was kinda sad, Izuku was getting good at patching up injuries. So far nobody had needed stitches, and Danny healed faster than most people. Thankfully there was no school the next day, so Sam and Izuku settled in Danny’s room to make sure while he slept he didn’t…

Nevermind.

Izuku, apparently, had stayed in the gymnasium until everybody escaped, including helping the boy that Danny pushed out of the way. Bakugou did the same, though insulting everybody for their slowness.

Sam didn’t sleep well, her mind continually drifting to the unconscious boy she was sleeping next to. He was paler than usual and his black hair had a mat of blood on the right side from the villain. He was laid on his left side and Sam stared at his face to see if he would flinch or grimace. She didn’t want him in any more pain, but she knew the burns on his back were bad. He didn’t like heat all that much since the accident. 

Izuku’s phone alarm went off around six o’ clock. It startled all three kids awake. 

“Danny! You’re all right!” Sam pulled her friend into a hug, ignoring the way he sputtered and blushed.

“Uh, yeah. And, hey, look! My spider suit survived!” Danny motioned towards what he was wearing. His shirt and jacket had been removed to bandage the injuries, but they all looked completely fine besides some spots of blood on the inside of the shirt.

Izuku gave Danny a disapproving look. The suit wasn’t the most important thing, or perhaps Danny didn’t know how life threatening the concussion could’ve been for anybody else. After half an hour or so removing bandages and checking injuries, the three got dressed and made their way downstairs to grab food. Nobody else was down there. Jazz was at the library or touring colleges like usual, and his parents were either in the lab or off at a meeting.

The kids decided to work on studying for the test on Tuesday since they were usually too busy fighting villains. Or, rather, Danny studied. Sam taught Izuku take down moves she’d learned in karate classes she took when she was younger. She was by no means professional, but her purple belt showed she was much better than either boy. In fact, she had that belt somewhere in her closet back home and enjoyed wearing it when she kicked their butts. 

Danny continuously got distracted from his studying when certain moves caught his attention. After a couple hours, he threw his hands into the air and declared he gave up. 

Noon came sooner than any of them expected, and they found themselves sitting in the lab alone.

“Should we play with your powers?” Sam asked, looking at a box full of the newest Fenton disasters. One of them seemed to be a thermos, but none of them could tell it’s real purpose. It was left in the box and Sam instead fished out a paintball gun from a cluttered cabinet. It was small, about the size of a regular handgun, and the paintballs were the size of a dime  ** _(sorry, i know they don’t use dimes in Japan but I figured you guys would understand that best)_ ** . They were, if Danny could remember properly, color- coordinated by the uses. Red stunned somebody, blue canceled powers, yellow- surprisingly- was actually to induce a small boost in stamina. Danny didn’t know how they worked, but he didn’t really care. 

A small batch of failed paintballs were green and did absolutely nothing except sting a little when they hit.

“Yeah, normal challenge?” Danny transformed and floated slightly. Sam clicked an already filled magazine into the gun. It was highlighted green to show which ones they were. Twenty paintballs fit inside, surprisingly, and the gun had never jammed before. Sam tossed a second, slightly larger paintball gun with a similar magazine to Izuku. 

“Ready?” Sam started. Danny darted away as she pulled the trigger. Villains don’t wait for a response to attack, so neither would she. This exercise was useful for them all since Danny worked on dodging while they worked on their aim. Izuku was better than Sam and actually hit Danny a couple times within the first few minutes. The sting of the paintballs disappeared within seconds after he turned intangible and the boys just laughed. 


	10. Seaweed hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a robot hunter attacks three unsuspecting teenagers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry I've been gone for a while. hopefully this long chapter makes you all a bit happier

A blue mist escaped from Danny’s mouth as he neared the Box Man. The villain wannabe was causing chaos by throwing boxes around a storage area. The blue mist was somewhat a mystery, but Izuku theorized that it was some sort of warning since it only went off when Danny was around somebody he thought was or could be dangerous or he was afraid of. Though the Box Man definitely wasn’t either of those things, Danny must’ve just considered him a villain. 

The Box Man didn’t stand a chance.

  
  


\-------

“So much for the Fentons being a family of geniuses,” Danny muttered, glaring down at the poor grade on the Tuesday test. It was still a passing grade, but it definitely should’ve been better. The boy felt the urge to rip the paper in half, but gently set it back on his desk instead.

“Don’t worry, Danny, we’ll find something else for you to do! Extra credit is being offered, remember?” Sam was reading a short list on the whiteboard at the front of mostly empty room. The teacher had written a few different extra credit essays he would accept. Sam suddenly grinned. “Oh, I’ve got it! The purple back gorilla, there are only two left in the world and both are male! There’s one here in Japan is named Sabishi and the other is in America. You’re going to prove that Sabishi should be set free!”   


“I don’t have time for extra credit! Or your agenda!”   


“Um, actually, you do.” Izuku pulled out a small hand held device. It looked like a phone, except there was a built in keyboard and had a pen stuck in the top. “I’ve been working on making a schedule for us to follow. It should make it easier to balance school and, uh, work.”

Danny sighed. “Fine, we’ll give it a trial period.” Izuku beamed. He began typing furiously into the device. 

“Great! So, I’ve actually got two of these planners in case I break one, so don’t worry. Also, they don’t mention names or specific places so if we lose one it can’t be tracked back to us!”

“So, what’s the plan for today?”

“Since you are doing the extra credit- wait you’re doing that right?” Danny nodded before Izuku continued. “We should do research. School library, public library, then zoo. Believe it or not, but we could totally get permission to stay in the zoo overnight, but we’d probably need a little, um, persuasion…”

Both boys looked over at Sam, who just sighed. “Yeah, sure, whatever. I’m a money bank now, huh?”

Izuku began to apologize and deny it, but Danny was to busy searching through his phone to pay attention. Jazz had texted him that Nezu was interviewing their parents for a potential job with quirk  _ enhancers _ . Jazz was annoyed, Danny decided to avoid home, and Izuku and Sam were talking about how the gorilla could or couldn't survive in the wild.

Eventually, the kids decided to go straight to the zoo. It was Tuesday, so there wouldn’t be many people there, and it technically closed at three, so Sam had to… uh… convince the zoo to allow them to stay after hours. 

Danny quickly fell asleep on the floor of the observation room while Sam and Izuku watched and studied the gorilla. 

“Should we wake him up?” Izuku asked, looking back towards the boy curled up on the cold floor. The bags under his eyes had been building up for a while now, and he looked exhausted beyond belief. Sam was about to say yes when Danny whimpered in his sleep and curled up more.

“Sabishi… so majestic, so beautiful!” She said instead, looking back at the gorilla with her binoculars. The sun was still high, but there wasn’t a soul in sight. “We should go try and communicate with him!” 

“Um, how about you do that and I make sure Danny doesn’t accidently activate his powers in his sleep. I’d rather not have to mess with the cameras in the zoo.” Izuku slowly sat beside the shivering boy. Sam left, looking back to see Izuku draping his school uniform jacket over Danny.

Unbeknownst to the three kids, a new enemy was watching from the ground in the shadow of a tiger’s cage. He was larger than most, standing at nearly seven feet. It was obvious at the state of his that he relied heavily on support items. Or, perhaps, he  _ was _ support items. He had electric green eyes like Danny, along with neon green hair and goatee. His grin was filled with jagged teeth. The most alarming thing, though, was that his skin was an off-white color that didn’t seem natural. His quirk, for lack of a better term, was Sticky Goo. He could change its shape into chains or just blobs of a slime-like substance. The goo disappeared when he got a certain distance away from it. Despite how dangerous he was, he’d never been arrested before. Maybe because he se;f destructed every time a hero came close 

Danny woke to Izuku shaking him and screaming in his face. He jumped up and transformed.  “There’s a villain down there! And Sam let Sabishi out!” 

“Izuku, the cameras. If something happens to us call the police regardless of my condition.” By condition, he meant form. Before Izuku could say anything, Danny went through the window and hurried down to where the gorilla attacked the villain. Sam was running the opposite way, which Danny was glad for. When he neared, a shot of green ooze stuck the gorilla to the outside of its cage. 

“Hey! Seaweed hair!” Danny dropped down onto the man before he could harm the gorilla any more.

“Gah! What the-”  The hunter yelled as Danny covered his eyes and latches onto his back.  "You little whelp! Get your paws off me!"

Danny laughed at the man's annoyance until rockets popped out of the hunter's back and snagged the boys feet in place.  As they shot into the air Danny yelped and held onto his head hold even tighter.  With a few loops and the hunter's crazy flying, they quickly crashed into the observation room. Danny let go and faxed through, leaving the villain to crash into the wall.

Hopefully he wouldn't come back.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> back in school by mother mother:
> 
> "Back In School"
> 
> I wanna get it  
But I got bad brains  
I'm what they like to call a special case  
I am a coma in a classroom
> 
> I got detention cause I made a face  
Nobody believed me that it's stuck that way  
I am a stoner in the bathroom
> 
> Back in school  
Back in place  
Back in school  
Back in chains  
Back in school  
Back in my cage
> 
> Back in school  
Back in place  
Back in school  
Back in chains  
Back in school  
Back in my cage
> 
> I gave an apple to my playground crush  
She told me that the apple wasn't bad enough  
Aw shucks  
So young to be so cruel
> 
> Back in school  
Back in place  
Back in school  
Back in chains  
Back in school  
Back in my cage
> 
> Back in school  
Back in place  
Back in school  
Back in chains  
Back in school  
Back in my cage
> 
> No, they don't teach the soul how to love
> 
> No, they don't teach the soul how to love
> 
> Back in school  
Back in place  
Back in school  
Back in chains  
Back in school  
Back in chains
> 
> Back in school  
Back in place  
Back in school  
Back in chains  
Back in school  
Back in chains
> 
> I wanna get it  
But I got bad brains  
I'm a what they call a special case  
Back in school  
Back in my cage  
I got detention cause I made a face  
Nobody believed me that it's stuck that way
> 
> Back in school  
Back in my cage  
Back in school  
Back in my cage


	11. Hi mom...hi dad...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny has difficulties with a robot. Sam and Izuku twist the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's short.

Danny walked into the house just before the interview could end. Nezu turned to look at him from where he was perched on a hero’s shoulder. 

“Danny, what happened? I don’t think I like these trips to the zoo…” Yurei said, studying her son. Jazz moved to stand but decided otherwise.

“It’s fine mom! Just three kids at a zoo… alone… we’ll be in my room.” Danny trudged up the stairs with his friends close at his heels. Izuku’s mouth gaped as he tried to say words about the heros. Eraserhead and Nezu.

“Did you see him?! Nezu?! That’s amazing!”

“You mean the rat bear dog thing? Yeah, I guess.” Danny said absently, as they moved through the halls. 

“His quirk is high IQ! He’s a genius!”

Danny opened his mouth to speak and a wisp of cold air escaped. The door to his bedroom flew open and a net entangled the boy.

“Danny!” Izuku and Sam cried, but they were powerless to stop the hunter as he dragged the boy into the room and slammed the door.

“Who are you!?” Danny said, fighting against the electric blue net. He recognized it as an old project of his parents’, it was supposed to cancel out quirks but there was a fatal flaw. It didn’t work on all quirks, and it could be destroyed easily.

“I am Skulker! The world’s greatest hunter and collector of powerful and unique quirks. And you, ghost child, are all that and more!”  “What do you mean “and more”.?”

“I mean the fact that you gained your quirks unnaturally! And survived! Tell me, how did you do it?” Danny caught his breath. How did this villain know? What was he gonna do with the information? Now that he knew who Phantom’s family was, was he going to target them as well? The hunter shattered a model rocket under his boot and the vigilante stopped worrying to instead yell profanities at the villain instead. 

“You broke my rocket you fudge! I built that!” “Pity, I thought you would put up more of a fight.”

“Don’t worry-” Danny changed form and phased out of the net “-I will.”

A battle ensued. Danny began throwing the hunter around his room, destroying furniture and dry wall in the process. Sam and Izuku hurried down stairs. Since the kitchen was right below Danny’s bedroom, Izuku hurried in under the guise that he was grabbing snacks.

“Sam, what’s all that noise?” Yurei asked, staring up at the ceiling. The heros were standing too, looking up as a particularly loud crash made the ceiling shake and dust fell.

“Danny’s, uh, lifting weights?”

“Danny doesn’t have a weight lifting set up stairs!” Yurei looked annoyed now, and the heroes started towards the stairs. 

“Uh-um-uh, that’s why he’s using his dresser!”

Sam tried to distract the heroes but they’d already pushed past her. Nezu sat on Eraserhead’s shoulder as he hurried up the stairs. He stopped when a loud crash sent something through the ceiling in the kitchen and destroyed the coffee table. Everybody hurried in only to see Izuku in the midst of the wreckage. He panicked and struck a karate pose.

“What’s going on here!” Eraserhead yelled. To everybody’s surprise, even Nezu looked somewhat confused.

Sam glared at Izuku when the boy shuffled and broke.

“Danny got his quirk!” He yelled quickly, then covered his mouth in fear. 

* “But Danny’s quirkless, he couldn’t have gotten one this late in the game!” Jack laughed, but stopped when Yurei nudged him in the ribs.

“What is it?” “Super strength. He’s been having difficulties but he wanted to learn to control it before we told you.” Sam shot Izuku a glare and he covered his face with his hands. Good, he should be embarrassed. However, it was a good play. Since Eraserhead can tell when somebody has a quirk, and the Fenton’s were bound to notice eventually that Danny was constantly breaking things. 

Down in the lab things weren’t going so well. Skulker was beating the boy senseless and waving around a tool he’d stolen from Izuku. A small, portable device with the kid’s schedule. He laughed, then quickly uploaded the schedule to his suit.

“Haha! I’ll always find you, whelp!” he moved to kick the kid on the ground, but was distracted by a small voice coming from his suit.

_ “Go to the zoo to purchase pamphlet on… purple back gorilla.” _

Skulker screamed in annoyance when his jet packs activated and sent him flying straight up and out of the building. A crowd of voices made their way down the steps and Danny turned to his normal form, sitting cross legged on the floor. 

“Hi mom, hi dad…” 

A few wooden boards landed at their feet as they stared up at the hole in the ceiling.


	12. Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids try to fetch help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is super short sorry

“This is a bad idea.” Sam’s voice warned in his head. Danny shook it away. There were worse things they could’ve tried. Skulker was a serious problem, one that he really didn’t want to deal with. 

“Take a left,” Izuku said. He was tracking Eraserhead, but Danny was to worried about not getting caught to ask how. He followed directions, flying slowly, or walking through alleyways. The three teens weren’t known for being sneaky, especially Danny. 

“He should be just up ahead, be careful. We’ll be across the street.” 

A snicker echoed through Danny’s head and he caught a glimpse of a telepathically sent picture of Izuku grinning over his sniper rifle full of paintballs. Red ones. Danny hovered in the air slightly, waiting for the hero. The young boy hoped there would be time to convince the hero not to attack.

A shiver went up the boy’s back and he fell to the ground with a thud.

“What are you doing Phantom?” A voice said. Danny looked up at the shadowy figure and was able to make out the white scarf that belonged to Eraserhead.

“Looking for you, actually, Penciltop.” 

Danny looked down and was relieved that, while his powers had been canceled, he hadn’t been forced to return to his other form.

“I didn’t realize you wanted to be arrested so badly.” The hero didn’t move from his spot, but Danny could see faintly how his head moved slightly to the sides. He was looking for something...or someone.

“They aren’t here. My friends didn’t think this was a good idea.”

“Your friends are smarter than you, it seems.”

“That’s enough Penciltop, I have more important things to worry about!”

“Like what, homework?” It sounded like a genuine question, but it made Danny angrier anyways.

“You know what? Yes! I have homework, and tests, and I haven’t slept well in months! But now, at this moment, I have a quirk collector hunting me. That’s the only reason I came out here, I was trying to ask for help, but noooo, you just want to arrest me! I guess I should’ve known!”

“Take him down,” the boy thought bitterly before darting away. Eraserhead called after him, but a sudden pain in his leg left him stumbling and falling to his knees. He looked to see a small, red splatter on his calf. He passed out thinking he’d been shot.

\--

“So...they have guns?” Tsukauchi asked, staring at the dark red on Eraserhead’s pants.

“They have paintball guns. It seems something in the paint is a sedative.” The hero’s face was it’s usual tired look, but the detective noticed the way his eyes flicked towards the file on his desk or out the window. “The boy is being hunted, it seems. He came to me for help but left when he thought i just wanted to arrest him.”

“Hunted?”

“By a quirk collector, he said. On top of that he’s stressed with homework and hasn’t been sleeping well.”

“He told you all this?”

“More like he unloaded it on me. He snapped.”

Eraserhead grabbed the thin file on the vigilante and opened it. “He didn’t react to the name Phantom either, it seems the Fenton boy was right.”

“Fenton? Danny Fenton? The one from the mall? Do you think he knows something?”

“I’m not sure, but I think I should question him anyways.”


	13. Stop it already!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bakugo looses his cool. The trio go on an unexpected trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's weird

Izuku won’t stop apologizing. Over and over he would tell Danny he was sorry. He’d been doing it since the night before when he found out that Skulker had downloaded the schedule. Izuku looks like he’s about to cry.

“Izuku, it’s okay. It’s not like you  _ wanted _ him to get it, right?” Danny says, waving away the problem.

“Yeah, and now that he knows our schedule, we know where he’s gonna be. We could set a trap for him!” Sam hit her fist on the table, causing Danny’s milk to tip over into his lap. They heard a snicker as Bakugo walked past. 

Danny stood, waving the others to follow on his way around the school. Along the way Izuku started pulling some information up on his tablet. “Skulker is considered a member of the “Ghost Gang,” which is an American based villain group. There aren’t a lot of them known yet, but they have matching tattoos. Like little squiggly things on their backs. Sam what is this?”

She took the tablet and stared at it for in confusion. “Um… it looks like a plastic bag with eyes.”   
  


“Whatever it is we know to watch out for it. Hey, keep watch for a moment, ok?” Danny said, turning intangible as Izuku and Sam looked around for any peeping eyes. The mess of milk slid off and landed in the grass.

“That looks really gross,” Sam mumbled at the grass before letting the boys lead her away. In hindsight they should’ve known it was a bad idea, since Bakugo had seen the spill.

“How the fuck are you not wet?!” Bakugo yelled. He pointed at Danny, annoyed and confused. The three kids just held back their laughter.

* “You really need to work on your anger, dude,” Danny said. He watched as Bakugo sputtered, trying to respond but not completely understanding what had been said. “And your English.”

_ “Stop, somebody’s nearby,”  _ Sam said in their group chat. Izuku began rambling in their heads in worry. A dozen theories whipped past in a matter of seconds, only to stop when somebody walked into the hall. His dead eyes caught Danny’s.

“Danny Fenton, I would like to speak with you,” Eraserhead said. His eyes glanced over to Izuku and Sam. “You two come as well.”

The three followed the hero outside, protesting that they had school and would fall behind. The hero did very little to ease their worries, but did admit to talking to teachers beforehand.

_ “He was probably worried we’d run off if they set up a time to meet. They might not even know who we are.” _ Sam said it to comfort them, but her voice dripped with worry. 

_ “Even if they did know, we have more important things to worry about, or have you forgotten the quirk collector hunting us down?” _

_ “Technically he’s hunting you,” _ Izuku piped in. He hurried with the buckle in the police vehicle they were in. They sat in the back, Eraserhead in the passenger seat, an unknown officer driving. They all sat in silence besides the telepathic group chat the kids were communicating through. They mostly just went over a few more things Izuku knew about the Ghost Gang and a couple other well known members.

_ “Why would anybody ever think Warden is a good Villain name?” _

_ “We're here, don’t do anything stupid. I’m talking to you, Danny.” _ Sam nudged the boys out of the vehicle and stood between them while Eraserhead motioned for them to hurry into the police station.

“I hate this,” Danny muttered. “My parents would kill me if they found out i was here.”

The hero looked looked back towards him. “They won’t be angry if you’ve got nothing to hide.”

“Ha! And here I thought you knew my parents.”

The kids were left in separate rooms, not surprisingly, and left to be interrogated at different times. 

_ “Not  _ interrogate, _ they’re just asking some questions,” _ Sam reasoned. The quiver in her voice told a different story. Danny just sighed and leaned on his hand while he waited. His wait wasn’t long, though, because somebody chose that moment to walk in. 

“Tsukauchi, I remember you.” Danny made sure to think the words as he said them so that the others could hear.

“Yes, I know, let’s just cut to the chase kid. We know it’s you.”   
  


_ “He says ‘we know it’s you’.” _

_ “He’s lying,”  _ Izuku replied.

“Alright, fine! You caught me! I admit it-”

The detective looked surprised.

“-I took some money from my mom’s purse to go to the movies.”

The detective looked annoyed. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”

“I got a concussion during the attack at the school-”

“That’s a bit worrisome but try again.”

“I pranked the school bully really badly as revenge for giving me a black eye-”

“I’m going to talk to the school, now try again.”

“Phantom steals weapons he deems dangerous from my parents and destroys them and I never try to stop him.”

“So… that’s how you know Phantom?”

“No… when he first noticed his powers I tried to help him control them.”

_ “You probably shouldn’t say anything more. Tsukauchi can tell when somebody is lying, but not that they aren’t telling the full truth.” _ Izuku sounded calmer than San, which was odd.

“So you’ve known Phantom since he was five? Can you tell me his name?”

“Phantom wasn’t really… he doesn’t have an actual name, he’s just Phantom. Always has been, always will be.”

“But you’ve known him since childhood?”

“Yes.”

The detective furrowed his eyebrows. 

_ “I think that registered as a lie, he seems really confused. What do I do?!” _ Danny struggled not to show how he was panicking outward.

_ “You’re terrible at this, just ask when you can leave.” _

“When can I leave? I want to go back to school.”

“Even if I didn’t have this quirk I would know that was a lie. I’ve got to admit you’re pretty good, you know how to dance around the questions. Now, I’ve got one last question. Does anybody know the true identity of Phantom?”

Danny paled, then looked down, around, anywhere except at the detective.

_ “Skulker! Skulker knows!” _ Izuku yelled.

_ “Izuku no yelling!” _

“Skulker… I don’t know much about him besides what Phantom was told. He’s some sort of quirk collector and is hunting Phantom.”

Tsukauchi gasped. “He’s here? In Japan? Do you know why?”

“Phantom said the hunter was here for him. He needed help, a place to hide, but Skulker was quick to find him.”   
  
“Is Phantom safe?”   
  
“When is he ever safe? Between keeping up with crazy parents and crazy villains, it’s no wonder he’s constantly on high alert.”

“We can help, we want to help him, we just need to know how.”   
  


_ “We could use their help, actually. We need to figure out a way to trap Skulker.” _ Sam and Izuku began plotting a trap while Danny just stared at the table, listening to them.

“You’re talking with your friends, aren’t you?” Tsukauchi looked impressed and mildly annoyed. “We put Sam on the other side of the building because we thought the distance would keep her powers from working. What are they saying?”

“Nothing.”

“Then what  _ were _ they talking about?”

“They were trying to come up with a plan for Phantom and the police force to work together and stop Skulker. I told them you guys would never be up for it unless you were able to either kill or arrest Phantom.”

“First of all, we wouldn’t kill Phantom, secondly... tell us what you need, we’ll do whatever is necessary to stop the hunter.”


	14. ROboT PiECe oF-

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sometimes people piss Danny off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got bored and wrote a new chapter. it's short, and weird, and I couldn't think of a good name for it.

“Where’s Daniel?” Eraserhead asked, looking around the observatory.

“Not here, obviously. He went to make sure you guys didn’t set any traps for Phantom.” Sam crossed her arms, glaring at the hero. “He found then and turned them off.”   


The hero sighed. He should’ve seen this coming, especially when the kids refused to tell what Danny’s job in the plan was. Izuku was messing with the computer after an employee gave the password, he was checking cameras and searching for Skulker. Sam was looking as well, but with binoculars. The hero couldn’t help but be slightly impressed at how quickly they could think through the plan. 

“Look, there he is!” She suddenly said, nudging Eraserhead. Skulker was entering the cage carefully. He used his own binoculars to look at the cage. Sabishi had been moved to someplace safe and was replaced by a life sized stuffed animal from the gift shop. It’s cartoonish face and most of its back had a blanket thrown over it. “Izuku, give us audio.”

After a bit of typing the audio from the cage’s cameras came through.

“You stupid gorilla, that little artificial hero was supposed to be here!” 

“Well then, look no further!” Danny called, hovering above the hunter. Skulker started and his head snapped up towards the boy. A roar escaped the hunter’s lips as he shot a trap at the boy. It was easily dodged and Danny retaliated by picking up the giant gorilla doll and throwing it at the hunter. 

While distracted, Skulker didn’t notice Danny dart in front of him. A solid blow to the face sent the head flying.

“What the hay! Okay, I know I’m stronger than most people but this is ridiculous!” 

There was no reply from Sam or Izuku, nor did either of them try to set up contact. Danny figured something was wrong, and picked up the tin head. It was filled with wires and steel that was probably already weakened when the fight took place.    


“A robot? Seriously?” Regardless the boy put the head under his arm and turned invisible. Or, at least, he tried. “Aw, fuc-”

He darted when he heard a rustle of the tree, just in time, too. A scarf slapped the air where Danny had been standing, only to be whipped back by its owner. Danny spun towards Eraserhead perched in a tree with his goggles on and scarf readied. Danny looked pained, but he readied himself for a fight anyways.

“What did you do to Sam and Izuku?!” He demanded as he crept back a bit. 

“Nothing, I assure you, they are perfectly fine.”

“Liar, you did something to them! Sam and Izuku promised you wouldn’t try to catch me, so why didn’t they warn me?!” “I slipped a minor sleeping pill into their drinks, completely within my rights when dealing with criminals.” Danny fumed, glaring at the hero. After a few seconds of silence he suddenly smirked. “Guess the joke’s on you! Daniel, hit it!” He stared past Eraserhead, which startled him into spinning around. It didn’t take him long to see it was merely a distraction, and one that worked perfectly.

“Shit.”

He should’ve thought twice before betraying the vigilante.


	15. The Stars Are Brightest In The Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a bit of a filler to show where I'm at. I feel like I need to clarify something, too, 'cause I made a mistake in the early chapters. for some reason I thought there were four years in secondary school, but there's actually only three, so the trio are in the second year while Jazz is in 3. also, Sam has no desire to be a hero, but she does use her resources to help clean up the city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> reminder that this is just a filler chapter to let you know where we are at.
> 
> PS, Present Mic x Eraserhead is my FAVORITE SHIP OF ALL TIME.
> 
> that concludes this PSA

In all of Hizashi’s Yamada’s life there had only been two instances where he’d wished he had never met his boyfriend Aizawa. Once, when they were new heros and newly dating and Aizawa started sneaking out. Yamada thought he was cheating, turns out a cut cat nearby would meow for attention. They adopted her by the way! Her name is Kyarameru, but everybody calls her Kyara. The second time was a couple years ago when Aizawa turned down a wedding proposal. Later on he confessed that he was afraid if he wore a ring it would, eventually, snag on something.

Now, there may have wished only twice to have never met Aizawa, there were  _ dozens _ of times were he regretted them becoming heroes. Right now, as he stood behind his seat draped over the chair, he regretted it once more. Once again, he’d rushed into battle at the first hint that the vigilante Phantom was in danger. When children are in danger, all common sense leaves the dark haired fool.

Yamada wouldn’t admit it, but the excess pressure he put on the large gash on Aizawa’s back that made him hiss in pain wasn’t a total accident. Luckily the injury didn’t need stitches, but the gauze and tape he used as bandages would be ruined by morning.

“He’s getting better at avoiding me. Since that time with Skulker, Phantom’s been nearly impossible to find, and he was literally considered a  _ ghost _ before.”

“Ghost? Isn’t that a term they give to villains who have unknown quirks? I thought you knew his powers.”

Aizawa sighed. “We thought we did, but now a new power has popped up. Apparently he can shoot green energy beams from his palms. It seems like powers are just appearing out of thin air.”

\---------

“Powers can’t just appear out of thin air,” Tsukauchi said. The blond sitting uncomfortably in the chair across the desk from him stared at the ground. He looked deep in thought, then like somebody punched him in the gut, then steely. His emotions waved like a roller coaster and his mouth opened and closed multiple times before he could find the words.

“You think he works for All for One?”

“I thought maybe he was one of his victims, actually. He seems to genuine to be a spy, and it would explain how Skulker knew his true identity.” At the blond’s confused expression, Tsukauchi explained. “Skulker knew Phantom’s identity, but the body was actually only a robot so we couldn’t get any information from it.”

“So, Phantom’s in danger regardless of which identity he is using?” “Yes, I believe so.”

\------------

Being thirteen isn’t fun. But now, with his fourteenth birthday here, he wished it could stay this way for a little while longer. As usual Jack forgot, and Yurei decorated the living room with blue balloons and a banister that said “HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANNY!” It was the same every year. Every year they spent it the same. If there was no school, like this year, they would spend the day playing board games or watching movies. Not even good movies, just old VCRs they found collecting dust in the closet. 

Jazz, of course, made up excuses to spend as much time as possible away from this torture, but Izuku and Sam came over with a present each.

“Um, can we go hang out in my room, I actually want to work on a school project with them,” Danny asked nervously. He sat on the opposite side of the giant couch from his parents, obviously trying to stay away. Er, well, it was obvious to anybody who was paying attention, both his parents were tinkering with new projects.

“Huh? Yeah, yeah sure.” Yurei said absently.

The kids all hurried upstairs. A slightly beat up weight lifting set sat off against one wall, along with a few dumbells in various weights. Izuku looked excited, Sam looked confused.

“That half truth you told my parents convinced my dad to give me it. It was his old thing I guess. A few of the dumbells are new though, I think.”   


“Do you use it?” Sam asked as she picked up a set of fifteens and began messing with them.

“Oh, right, you guys haven’t been over in, like, a week. Yeah, I’ve been using them since I got them. The morning after that whole thing with Skulker and Eraserhead.”

Sam looked away. She still hadn’t completely forgiven herself for not being able to help him when the hero betrayed them all. Luckily there wasn’t any questioning and the kids weren’t approached by the hero or detective again because, let me tell you, Sam would’ve found a way to break into their minds just to give them a massive headache. And yes, that’s something she’s learned how to do to somebody linked to her.

“Open my present first!” Izuku said, shaking Sam out of her own thoughts. The bright smile on the boy’s face made the others smile too. Danny quickly took the blue paper- wrapped shoebox and sat on the bed. The other two sat at his sides as he ripped the paper off.

Inside was a white and black sweatshirt, nearly identical to the top half of the Phantom outfit. The main difference was the hood, which had small, veiled eye holes and had a zipper that sealed it off.

“I think Eraserhead actually has to see skin or something to use his quirk, so I think all you need to do is cover your face. What do you think?” Izuku said excitedly.   


“I think that’s a great idea!”

“Mine next!” Sam said excitedly, stuffing the box into his hands. 

Danny laughed and hurried to open it. It was larger and much heavier, and the glinting metal inside showed the boys exactly why. Skulker’s head sat in the box, polished to a shine and with the hair untangled. Danny immediately burst out laughing, soon joined by the other two. Soon they were all laying back in the bed, staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars they had stuck to the ceiling when they were younger. The occasional planet was painted on with silly colors. Quite a bit of art was destroyed in Skulker’s attack.

“Do you still want to be an official hero, Izuku?” Danny asked suddenly. “More than anything. Why?” “Do you think, if offered a quirk, you would take it?” “Maybe eventually, but not right now.” “Why?” “Because I know what you’re thinking and there’s no way I’m going into the machine.” Sam snickered, but stopped when she noticed Danny wasn’t laughing. In fact, Danny looked anything _but_ amused. He looked sad… something was wrong.

“My parents are taking me to a college reunion up north. Apparently their old college buddy is rich and is holding the reunion in his castle. I don’t want to leave, especially if you guys can’t come. What if something goes wrong?” “Well, then it goes wrong. After that, I suppose it’ll be up to you to make it right again.” Danny groaned and pushed himself off the bed. “But I don’t _want_ it to depend on me. I don’t want anybody to depend on me! I’m supposed to be like a ghost, in and out before you can say “boo!”. Now, after that whole Skulker thing, Penciltop and his Lie Detector buddy has every hero in the city on the look out for me! I just… all I wanted was to help, why did it turn out like this?”

Sam was the first to his side, wrapping an arm around him and leaning her face into his shoulder. “It’ll be alright, this’ll all blow over eventually. You never wanted to be an actual hero either, remember? You wanted to restart JAXA and go to the moon! Remember that planet there?” Sam pointed to a small red planet with two brown moons revolving around it. A small silver saucer could be seen leaving the planet. “It’s from when you decided aliens really existed and you wanted to meet them. You were convinced that they wouldn’t have specialized quirks, maybe just a few powers that everybody had.”

“I stand by my theory,” he mumbled.

“Well, then I stand by mine. You don’t have to be a hero, you can be a spaceman.”

Danny smiled again, and he seemed to glow as he stared into Sam’s eyes.


	16. Danny is having difficulties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny is having a hard three days, as is Eraserhead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, as usual.

>   

> 
> Danny is late, again. He could fly home and arrive on time, of course, but that would be cheating. Curfew was a test of how well you can manage time, and Danny was failing miserably. To make matters worse, he screeched to a halt at the sight of three elderly people with bird like wings were their arms should be and talons were their feet should’ve been. They all looked identical, even with their black suits and red hats. Triplets…? 
> 
>   

> 
> “Hey! What are you doing?” Danny yelled. All three looked towards him. 
> 
>   

> 
> * “Have you seen Jack Fenton?” one of them asked, his voice gravelly. 
> 
>   

> 
> * “What do you want with him?! You know what? Nevermind, just get out of here before I kick you asses!” He changed into his Phantom form, readying himself for a fight. As a new addition, a sweatshirt hung over his outfit. Izuku had admitted that he added some armor to the chest and back of it, so there was a slight buff to Danny now. He’d never bothered to ask what the armor protected against.   
  

> 
> The vultures swooped, talons at the ready. They passed harmlessly through the boy, slamming into each other as a result. While they lay on the cement dazed, Danny fished through the pictures until he found a torn piece of a picture with a younger version of his dad in it. The boy snorted at the sight of his father with a mullet. 
> 
>   

> 
> His phone beeped, telling him he missed curfew.
> 
>   
“Fuck!”
> 
> \----------
> 
>   

> 
> Eraserhead admits that, under any other circumstances, this would be considered stalking. Eraserhead further admits that, as of now, he wouldn’t rest until he figured out what happened to Phantom. Silence for three days was never a good thing, especially with this kid. It had only been two weeks since that whole thing with Skulker, and the hero didn’t expect the kid to forgive the betrayal anytime soon, but stopping with the vigilante thing?
> 
>   

> 
> No way.
> 
>   

> 
> “Shota come to bed,” Hizashi said, hiding his face in his pillow. The light of the desk cast odd shadows around the room and made it difficult for him to sleep. Aizawa, however, was as awake as possible. He read over the reports from the last sighting of Phantom three days ago when he took down the Vulture Brothers. The video from the camera had been corrupted, but they caught a video of the boy taking the villains down then ruffling through their pockets.
> 
>   

> 
> Tsukauchi had been worried after seeing that, assuming immediately that the boy had started robbing people. It wasn’t until a small stack of papers arrived at the detective’s desk about the vultures and their crimes that everybody calmed down a bit.
> 
>   

> 
> “He’s gone quiet,” Aizawa said suddenly. The ruffle of blankets told him that Hizashi had gotten up. The arms that suddenly wrapped around him gently proved him right. 
> 
>   

> 
> “He’ll be fine, he’s a powerful kid. You’re no good to him in this condition. Can you even stand?” Aizawa huffed but slowly stood, leaning over and letting his arms hang. His eye bags were more profound than usual. He kind of looked like a vampire.
> 
>   

> 
> He plopped onto the bed as Hizashi turned out the lights.
> 
>   

> 
> \------
> 
>   

> 
> “So, turns out this guy that my parents knew in college was a scientist too!” Danny says, packing while he talked to his friends via speakerphone. Sam, surprisingly, seemed really sympathetic. Izuku, unsurprisingly, started asking questions about the scientist’s projects and what he studied.
> 
>   

> 
> “I need to go you guys, I need to finish parking. And, hey, Izuku?”   
  
_ -Yep?- _
> 
>   

> 
> “You got that, uh, thing off the cameras right?”
> 
>   

> 
> _ -Of course! You call while on vacation, right? And take pictures! I’ve never been on the inside of a castle before.- _
> 
>   

> 
> “Yeah, of course. Bye, see you both on Monday… or Tuesday.”
> 
>   

> 
> Danny hurried to stuff some stuff into a bag and ran downstairs to the waiting RV. Jazz handed him a small note while they filed into the vehicle. It was torn, messy, and written in a hastey scribble. Very unlike Jazz. Also unlike Jazz, it only had one sentence.
> 
>   

> 
> _ I hate this already. _
> 
>   

> 
> Danny laughed before he could stop himself and looked over to see his sister smiling at him. Before he could say anything, somebody texted him.
> 
>   

> 
> RABBITBOY: I just found out the man you’re visiting is  _ the _ Vlad Masters!
> 
>   

> 
> SAMTHEPSYCHIC: Like _ the _ Vlad Masters? The one who does business with my parents sometimes?
> 
>   

> 
> RABBITBOY: YOUR PARENTS DO BUSINESS WITH VLAD MASTERS WHY DOESN’T ANYBODY TELL ME THESE THINGS AHHHHHHH
> 
>   

> 
> DAHDANMAN: Would you quite screaming and tell me what’s so important about this?
> 
>   

> 
> RABBITBOY: Vlad Masters is one of the richest men in the world. He’s from Wisconsin, I think, so he named his castle the Wisconsin castle. If I remember right, there was a lab accident when he went to college with your parents.
> 
>   

> 
> Danny sucked in a breath. 
> 
>   

> 
> DAHDANMAN: you dont mean like my accident do you?
> 
>   

> 
> RABBITBOY: I mean _ exactly _ like your accident. According to this newspaper article I found your parents and him were working on a prototype for that DNA stockpiler machine that gave you your quirks. I mean, it didn’t go exactly the same, Vlad Masters was in the hospital for years. (MESSAGE DELETED)
> 
>   

> 
> DAHDANMAN: where do you even get these news articles. Also, would you mind wiping that last text message? 
> 
>   

> 
> RABBITBOY: sorry… anyways, after he got out of the hospital he started a few small businesses which grew, alot. He’s like, filthy stinking’ rich. I heard he’s obsessed with the Packers, too.
> 
>   

> 
> DAHDANMAN: oh, great, anything else?
> 
>   

> 
> SAMTHEPSYCHIC: I met him once, back when I was younger. He was actually pretty nice, though he always had the look like he was plotting something.
> 
>   

> 
> DAHDANMAN: alright, I'll keep that in mind.
> 
> * * *


	17. Good luck, Daniel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Good luck, Daniel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha hahaha hah!haha!hahahahhhhe!

“So, turns out this guy that my parents knew in college was a scientist too!” Danny says, packing while he talked to his friends via speakerphone. Sam, surprisingly, seemed really sympathetic. Izuku, unsurprisingly, started asking questions about the scientist’s projects and what he studied.

“I need to go you guys, I need to finish parking. And, hey, Izuku?”

-Yep?-

“You got that, uh, thing off the cameras right?”

-Of course! You call while on vacation, right? And take pictures! I’ve never been on the inside of a castle before.-

“Yeah, of course. Bye, see you both on Monday… or Tuesday.”

Danny hurried to stuff some stuff into a bag and ran downstairs to the waiting RV. Jazz handed him a small note while they filed into the vehicle. It was torn, messy, and written in a hastey scribble. Very unlike Jazz. Also unlike Jazz, it only had one sentence.

I hate this already.

Danny laughed before he could stop himself and looked over to see his sister smiling at him. Before he could say anything, somebody texted him.

RABBITBOY: I just found out the man you’re visiting is the Vlad Masters!

SAMTHEPSYCHIC: Like the Vlad Masters? The one who does business with my parents sometimes?

RABBITBOY: YOUR PARENTS DO BUSINESS WITH VLAD MASTERS WHY DOESN’T ANYBODY TELL ME THESE THINGS AHHHHHHH

DAHDANMAN: Would you quite screaming and tell me what’s so important about this?

RABBITBOY: Vlad Masters is one of the richest men in the world. He’s from Wisconsin, I think, so he named his castle the Wisconsin castle. If I remember right, there was a lab accident when he went to college with your parents.

Danny sucked in a breath. 

DAHDANMAN: you dont mean like my accident do you?

RABBITBOY: I mean exactly like your accident. According to this newspaper article I found your parents and him were working on a prototype for that DNA stockpiler machine that gave you your quirks. I mean, it didn’t go exactly the same, Vlad Masters was in the hospital for years. (MESSAGE DELETED)

DAHDANMAN: where do you even get these news articles. Also, would you mind wiping that last text message? 

RABBITBOY: sorry… anyways, after he got out of the hospital he started a few small businesses which grew, alot. He’s like, filthy stinking’ rich. I heard he’s obsessed with the Packers, too.

DAHDANMAN: oh, great, anything else?

SAMTHEPSYCHIC: I met him once, back when I was younger. He was actually pretty nice, though he always had the look like he was plotting something.

DAHDANMAN: alright, I'll keep that in mind.

\--------

“Jack… and Yurei! You’ve never looked lovelier, my dear.” Vlad ushered everybody in, but kept his eyes on Yurei. Danny held the door open as Vlad tried to lock Jack outside. 

“What’s with all the green and gold?” Jazz asked, looking around at the entrance hall. Danny chuckled.

“Jerseys, football helmets? Isn’t it obvious Jazz? He’s a Packers fanatic.”

“Oh, well, fanatic is a rather negative word, but yes.” Vlad placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder, but moved it away just as quickly. “You’re rather cold, my boy, would you like a blanket.”

Danny looked away, confused. He wasn’t cold, did he seem cold? “Um, I’m fine.”

“Wait, I don’t get it, you’re rich! Why not just buy the team?”

Vlad suddenly looked very angry, hands clenched into fists and teeth grinding. “Because the Packers are owned by the city of Green Bay and they won't sell them to me!” He cleared his throat and regained his cool before turning towards Yurei. “One of two things my wealth has not as of yet... been able to acquire.”

Yurei smiled innocently at him.

“Did he just...flirt with mom?” Danny whispered to Jazz. The girl just shrugged.

“If he has working toilets and mom says no, who cares?”

Danny cared, and he made a point to glare at the man. Vlad offered to let everybody stay in the castle, but Jack and Yurei said no. It took both the kids siding with Vlad to convince the parents to agree. For a while, things went smoothly. Jack and Danny were stuck carrying in bags because of their quirks. Jazz and Yurei just busied themselves talking to Vlad.

*“Why do I have to do this? You could easily do it all yourself!” Danny hauled a bag that felt like it was full of dumbbells.

*“Practice my boy, you’re gonna have to use those dumbbells everyday if you’re gonna be strong like me!” 

Danny huffed. Vlad watched carefully as the boy carried the bag that was, apparently, full of dumbbells past him. “No offense dad, but I don’t want to be anything like you.”

*”What was that? Speak english, son, you know I’m no good with japanese.”

*”I said ‘Thank You!’” 

Danny grumbled as he carried the stuff up the stairs, letting Vlad lead them all to their rooms. Jack and Yurei, then down the hall was Jazz. a floor above them all was Danny, who was set up near a room full of workout equipment.

“So, Danny, I heard you got your father’s quirk? How’s that working out for you?” Vlad asked as he showed the boy the workout room.

“It’d be better if I wasn’t so awkward.” Danny walked in, looking around at all the expensive looking machines. He couldn’t tell what most of it was, and what he did recognize, he didn’t know how to use. “Dad gave me his old stuff, but it’s nowhere near as nice as this!”

Vlad chuckled. “You’re welcome to use anything you want. It’s getting late, though, so try not to stay up too late.”

“Well, thanks!” Danny wondered around the room, waiting for him to leave. As soon as Vlad disappeared, he sat on a bench and pulled out his phone.

…

DAHDANMAN: Hey, whatcha doin?

RABBITBOY: I’m reading, just got done training with Sam.

SAMTHEPSYCHIC: I totally wiped the floor with him.

RABBITBOY: not everybody has had years of martial arts training.

SAMTHEPSYCHIC: true. Hey, how are you doin danny?

DAHDANMAN: ugh, not the best. Ten minutes into arriving and he was flirting with my mom. He’s got a cool workout room though, even if i can’t use half the stuff.

RABBITBOY: Hey, you should ask about his quirk, he might be able to give you a few pointers without you even needing to give away your identity. (MESSAGE DELETED)

SAMTHEPSYCHIC: that makes no since.

RABBITBOY: Vlad Masters has the ability to turn intangible. When I was going through that machine’s database to figure out all the quirks that Danny got, Vlad was one of the people in their. That’s why I did so much research on him, actually. Intangibility was the most difficult power for Danny to control. (MESSAGE DELETED)

SAMTHEPSYCHIC: why didn’t you tell us about this sooner?

RABBITBOY: you never asked? Is there anything else you’d like me to explain.

DAHDANMAN: uh, guys, remember what I said about talking about sensitive information on the phone?

RABBITBOY: sorry, i’ll wipe them out

DAHDANMAN: i’ve got to go to bed

SAMTHEPSYCHIC: don’t blame you, you were stuck in a vehicle with your sister and, worse, your parents for hours.

Danny snapped a picture of the room before leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just went through a writing streak and have, like, five chapters ready for all y'all.
> 
> I'm going post them every couple of days though so that if I hit another block I dont piss you all off.


	18. bathroom break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> short, somewhat predictable chapter

A blue mist escaped Danny’s mouth, waking him from his sleep. He sat up, glancing around the room for any enemies, only to find there was nobody there. He quickly transformed. Then stuck his head through the walls to look around. Nobody in the hall, outside, or in the rooms next to him. He stuck his head through the floor next. He caught sight of the vulture brothers from a few days ago. 

*“Hey, what are you doing?” Danny hissed. When they looked up, he jumped through the floor and landed on top of two of them. With a well placed kick to the stomach of the third one, he had taken them all down. He would’ve felt guilty about attacking the elderly if he didn’t see jack stumbling around up ahead. He was searching for the bathroom in a haze.

Danny quickly picked his dad up and hurried him to the bathroom, plopping him down in front of the open door.

“That was a little to easy,” Danny mumbled, standing outside the bathroom door. The vultures were still on the ground, the fight apparently won.

“Ah, bright boy!”

Danny spun around towards the voice. A man hovered above the ground, arms crossed and a smug look on his face. His black and grey hair was pointed into horns and he wore a white suit. A cape waved slightly behind him, the inside red like his eyes. His ears were pointed and face a pale blue, but Danny swore he looked familiar.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. What are you, a dracula rip off? A villain, I’m guessing, why are you here?”

“I could ask the same of you. Phantom, correct? The vultures were supposed to bring me the great oaf, but you’ll do!”

“You...know me?” “Most villains do. The fourteen year old boy with more powers than should be possible. How many? Three? Four?” The villain laughed.

Flight, intangibility, overshadow, invisibility, and energy beams. “Uh, five, I think.”

“And yet you haven’t used a single one against me. You know I’m a villain, why not attack?” “I don’t know what you can do. I’ve learned my lesson about running into battles without a plan.” The villain laughed again. “Somehow I doubt that.” The villain leaned back, phasing through the wall. Danny startled, then did the same. The room was a library, warmer and cozier than any he’d ever been in before.

“How’d you do that? I thought your quirk was flight or something?”  “Haha! That’s hilarious! Tell me, boy, is it true what Skulker told me?” Danny paled, and the villain noticed. “Ah so it is! He said you got your powers from an accident in the Fenton’s lab, wouldn’t tell me your true identity though.”

A beam of energy shot from the villains hand suddenly, hitting the boy in the chest and sending him crashing into a bookshelf.

“S-stay away!” He yelled, shooting at the villain. He merely laughed and raised his hand. A pink shield of energy deflected the attack into the wall near Danny’s head. 

“Ah, an energy blast, so...year one?”

Danny flew into the air, dodging blasts and throwing some of his own.

“Tell me child, can you do this yet?” The villain duplicated himself into three other copies.

“No I can’t! How are  _ you _ doing all this?!” 

With four of them now, Danny had no chance of dodging the blasts, and he screamed in pain when he fell out of the air. As he struggled to sit up on his hands and knees, a kick in the gut sent him through the air and against the wall. He gasped for breath and tried to sit up again as one of the copies grabbed the back of his sweatshirt and threw him into the wall again. 

For a moment, the only sound in the room came from Danny’s coughing and weezing. He phased through the floor during a brief moment of piece, landing with a thud onto the ground in a lab.

“Why?” He groaned, trying to sit up. His ankle was bent at a funny angle, but what really got him was the sharp pain he felt when it popped into place. He cried out and collapsed on the ground, shivering despite how hot it was. He passed out when the villain entered the lab. 

Black halos transformed the boy back into Danny Fenton, leaving the villain surprised.

“The Phantom boy is Jack’s son?” The villain changed form as well, landing on the ground softly. Vlad Masters was at a loss for words.

“Perhaps… I should’ve gone easier on him,” he mumbled, watching as the boy’s broken arm popped back into place. Then he grinned. “Nah.”

  
  



	19. angst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> everybody is having a hard time. danny misses home (he would prefer dealing with penciltop at this point)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> angst... sorta. I don't exactly known what counts as angst, but my story will be a lot more bloody and mental than the cartoon...
> 
> but that's the BNHA part, huh?

Danny woke up outside. His pajamas were messy and caked in dried blood. Even with his enhanced healing, his body ached as he stood. Everything hurt, and he couldn’t think of any reason why he should get up.

“Oh, wait, my family could be dead…” Danny shot up, only to immediately collapse to his knees and throw up. It was mostly blood, he must’ve ruptured something. Didn’t matter much, though, since it was probably healed somewhat.

After glancing around he changed form, wincing at how much worse it felt in this form. He could fly, though, and that’s all that mattered. He struggled to stay invisible, but he hurried around peeking through windows to make sure everybody was okay. He could’ve sworn Vlad noticed him when he tried checked to make sure the adult was okay. After that, he hurried to his room and went to the attached bathroom to shower.

He couldn’t stand the look of his body, bruised and bloodied to the point where it hurt when the water ran on him. Since his body tended to heal the more serious injuries first, the bruises were still black and blue. Danny, against his better judgment, took a picture of his naked chest in the mirror when he got out of the shower. A couple injuries oozed blood and his lip was busted. He regretted the decision as soon as he sent it to his friends.

He shuffled through the small first aid kit Sam had insisted he pack, then quickly bandaged up any injuries still weeping.

SAMTHEPSYCHIC: OMG ARE YOU ALRIGHT 

WHY AREN’T YOU ANSWERING???

DANNY ANSWER ME

RABBITBOY: Did you manage to patch yourself up?

DAHDANMAD: I’m fine.

Wish you were here! (*Thumbs up emoji*)

Danny limped into his room, changing into some jeans and a Present Mic shirt Izuku had bought him. Danny couldn’t judge, everybody had something they obsessed over, Izuku’s was heroes.

With clothing picked out and his messy hair somewhat tamed, Danny made his way down the stairs. He hid his mouth and wandered around looking for food while people began coming in. it was nearly noon, and his parents hadn’t seemed to have noticed their son missing. And, when they did spot him, the busted lip and bruised eye did raise any concern.

“Oh, Danny, looky here!”

Danny flinched when his mother grabbed his shoulder, then pulled away, darting into the crowd. Yurei watched after him, confused for a moment then shrugging it off.

Danny soon found himself in a theatre, lights down and grainy black and white tapes playing. They were all about the Packers though. He limped down the row until a hand shot out and grabbed his clothes.

“Danny? What happened?” Jazz asked as she pulled him into the seat beside him. “Oh, not much, just an accident in the workout room.” Danny laughed nervously and looked away to try and hide his bruised eye.

“Hmm… okay.” It was obvious she didn’t believe him, but she let the subject drop anyways. “Um… did you know the Packers won the very first Super Bowl? I mean, I don’t care much about that, but I thought you might like to know.” “Why would I… like to know that exactly?” Danny asked. Jazz turned back to the screen just in time to not noticed the blue mist that escaped Danny’s mouth. “You knew about the Packers before I did, so I just figured you were into the sport.”

“Oh, is that so?” Vlad said. Danny startled and jumped up. “I didn’t realize you were a fan!”   


“Uh, well, yeah, a little bit. I watch it on YouTube sometimes but we can’t really get the channels on our TV because it’s too expensive… I-I should go, um…”

“Oh, yes, of course. Enjoy the reunion.” He turned his attention to Jazz as Danny left. “And you, my dear, are you having fun?”

Danny didn’t hear the rest of the conversation before he was limping along. He wondered momentarily if his leg healed wrong. Could that happen? DAHDANMAN: is it possible for my leg to have healed wrong?  


SAMTHEPSYCHIC: what did you do?

“UUuuugHgggghHHh,” Danny groaned as he plopped himself down on the floor in the hallway and laid down. “Just answer the question, jeeze!”

A blue mist escaped him and he pushed himself upright just in time to see Vlad coming down the hall. “Is there a problem here?”

“My friend is being weird, it’s nothing. How are you… did you, uh, sleep well?”

“In fact, I did, had a dream about a ghost flying around in football gear.” Danny sighed and gave him a small smile. 

“That’s good. I should get going, mom was trying to introduce me to people earlier.” The boy stood and hurried off. The sound of everybody speaking in english confused him for a moment before he remembered that his parents went to college in the states. His mom found him quickly and waved him towards her and a young woman with dark hair and ram horns.

“Danny, meet Harriet Chin.”

Apparently Harriet was Japanese, or at least understood it, because she understood everything they said.

“Ah, yes, young Danny Fenton. Your mother was just telling me how your quirk developed extremely late. I did a story about a boy who’s quirk wasn’t noticed until he was a teen. Perhaps you’ve heard of him?”

“Uh… I think he was Russian, right. He had a quirk that let him understand other languages, but he didn’t know because nobody in his household spoke anything else.”

“Precisely. And you? How did yours go unnoticed?”

“I suppose, whenever I broke something or did something weird I just assumed it was damaged already or there was some sort of fluke. It wasn’t until I picked up both my friends that we realized something was up.”

Yurei listened intently, having not heard much from her son on this subject. Lately he’d been keeping so much a secret, and she wanted to know as much as possible. Perhaps… was it as simple as just asking him.

“So you-” Yurei began.

*“Danny, my boy!” Jack said, running over. Danny felt the floor shake and he prepared himself for a fight out of reflex. *“You met Harry? She's a big-shot reporter for the Milwaukee Journal now, but back in my college days she was just Harry. Harry Chin! Haha! Get it?!” Danny sighed.*“Yes dad, I get it.”

“I’m so sorry Harry.” Yurei sighed. Jack gave her a confused look. Out of all the years spent in Japan, had he learned nothing of the language?!

“You married him, you should be.”

A new, strange song began playing and Jack pulled Yurei onto the floor. He runs into people, and Danny found himself hiding his face. “Well, it’s official, I’m mortified. I can see why Jazz pretends she not related to us.”

“I’m surprised you aren’t doing the same.”

Danny huffed a laugh before giving her a small wave and limping away. He had more important things to do than chat with his parents old college buddies, like surfing the web. He did a search on hid alter ego, like he did often. So far, the name Phantom was sticking better than Inviso-Bill, thanks to Izuku’s help. Mostly all that popped up online were some theories trying to guess at his powers. Since he was somewhat unknown still, citizens didn’t know much about him besides that he can turn invisible and fly.

DAHDANMAN: you guys figure out anything about the heroes’ plans to catch Phantom?

RABBITBOY: I think it would be best to wait until after you return. I really don't want to waste your vacation.

DAHDANMAN: I don't GET vacations, now spill.

SAMTHEPSYCHIC: it was his idea, I swear!

DAHDANMAN: what did u do?

RABBITBOY: i got Phantom’s case file… Virtually. (MESSAGE DELETED)

DAHDANMAN: did you get caught? Trouble? I could fly over and be there in, like, an hour.

RABBITBOY: no it’s fine. By the way, why are we discussing this? Isn't it you who’s always talking about sensitive information being on the phones bad?

DAHDANMAN: ugh, your right. Oh, I've got an idea.

Danny signed out and jumped up, sneaking back into the party. A woman standing by the punch bowl alone seemed to be drowning away her sorrows with spiked punch. She didn't even notice Danny phase a hand through her purse and pull out her phone. He snuck away again and hurried to the theater where nobody would bother him. He curled up on the floor between seats, hidden off to the right side of the room. 

\---------: It’s me, Danny, now spill.

RABBITBOY: did you steal some poor person’s phone?

\---------: We have more important things to do, now spill.

RABBITBOY: hold on I’m adding Sam.

SAMTHEPSYCHIC: you’re gonna return that phone when you’re done, right?

RABBITBOY: all the heroes in the city have been made aware of you and have been ordered to arrest you on sight.

\---------: penciltop really shouldn’t be turning the heroes against me. 

SAMTHEPSYCHIC: it wasn't his idea. After the whole thing with Skulker, and then when you used your energy beam in public, the heroes realized you’re powers are popping up at random. 

RABBITBOY: they’re afraid of you.

\---------: and they should be. I’m so angry right now i could just ugh!

RABBITBOY: ugh?

\--------: UGH

SAMTHEPSYCHIC: Ughhuggguuuuughhhh stop complaining and go back to the party

Danny hurried the delete the text string than hurried to return it to its owner. Before he could leave the theater, though, a blue mist escaped his mouth and he crouched into a fighting position.

“Hello, son, I was wondering if you would do me a  _ huuuuuge  _ favor.” Vlad said, eyes flicking towards the boy’s odd stance. Danny relaxed when he saw who it was.

“Yeah, sure Mr. Masters.”

“Great. Now, could you go to my lab, the second door on the right upstairs? There's a present in there for your father that I'd like you to bring down.”

“Sure.” Danny hurried off, glad to be away from everybody. It didn't take long before he was to the lab, but he hesitated at the door. He remembered the night before all too well. Upon entering, he noticed a spot on the ground where he’d passed out. He knew that was the place, too, because the blood hadn't been cleaned up. 

“Why didn’t he-?” a blue mist escaped, sending him on high alert. Before he could do anything, a net shot out. 

“Miss me?” A familiar voice said. Skulker stepped out from his hiding spot by a large machine. 

The net didn’t last long. Danny stretched as much as possible, ripping a hole through it.

“Hey, catch!”  Danny, like a kid, immediately caught the small, black cube thrown at him. It immediately unfurled and wrapped itself around his wrists. 

“Hey! I can’t phase out of this!” “Haha! There’s more to it than that, whelp.”

The hunter pressed a button on his wrist and the cuffs began electrocuted the boy. Danny screamed in pain and collapsed to the floor, thrashing around. His back arched and he began slamming his wrists against the ground in an attempt to get them off. His head felt fuzzy, and he tried not to think about it…

Electricity wasn’t bad, don’t think about it…

It was an unfortunate event, don’t remember it…

It’ll be okay…

But it wasn’t, and, even when the torture paused, Danny couldn’t help but remember how painful it was the first time.

Skulker lifted him up by the collar and pulled him up. “Frightened? Good!” Danny’s breathing was quick and his eyes darted around the room. After a moment, the hunter’s smile faded when he noticed the boy’s eyes weren’t really _seeing _anything. He shook the boy, but the tears in Danny’s eyes were the only response he got.

“Enough! I hired you to trap the boy, not kill him!”

“As if I’d have fun killing my prey when they’re in this state.” Skulker dropped the boy to the ground where he shook and continued viewing the room with unseeing eyes.

“Leave us.” Vlad demanded. The hunter did as he was told, leaving Vlad to study the boy rocking slightly on the ground. “It’s a good thing I keep this down here.” He picked up a water bottle at his workstation and dumped it over the boy’s head. Thanks to the mask, Danny didn’t choke on anything, but he did sit up rather quickly. 

“T-there was Skulker and-and you-”

“Yes, yes, I get it. You’re confused. Of course you are! You’re, what, fourteen? To young to drive and barely out of secondary school! I sent those vultures to test your idiot father’s skills, imagine when I find  _ you. _ ”

“Me? What about me?”

“You’re the second person in this world that was given artificial powers by your father.” Something clicked in the boy’s mind. The villain from last night had the same powers, and Vlad had gone through a similar accident in college.

“Oh no,” the boy mumbled, watching as Vlad changed his form into that of the villain from the night before.

_ “I wish Sam and Izuku was here.” _

  
  



	20. For family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm not good with fights, but I like to confuse people with the injuries afterwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Injuries wont seem consistent but its just because his healing factor is new and confusing and I wanted to torture the boy but not kill him.

Daniel was panicking, Vlad could tell. From the way the child’s eyes were darting around the room, to the way he pushed away from the adult with his good leg. Vlad had long since forgotten what it felt like to break bones, he hadn’t gotten into a dangerous fight in almost ten years. And now, seeing the odd angle Danny’s leg was pointing, he could tell it hadn’t healed properly. In all honesty, he knew he should've left the boy in a bedroom, not the woods. 

When the boy had backed into the wall finally, Vlad stopped moving forth and instead transformed. Daniel flinched away, remembering the night before.

“Let me go!”

"Why? So you can go back to stumbling through your adolescence, desperately trying to get control of your powers? Powers, by the way, that I've had for twenty years.” Vlad began demonstrating his powers. Pink shield, invisibility, then split. “I have experience, my child. And the money and power attained through using those powers for personal gain, you see.” He split himself into three. “I could train you, teach you everything I know. And all you'd have to do... is renounce your idiot father.” His duplicates slowly faded back into him and he lowered to the ground.

* “Fuckin’ Fruitloop.”

* “You know I can speak english too, right.”

“Go to hell, I’ll never join you.”

“You say that now, but we’ll see how you’ll feel when your father is out of the way.”

Danny fought the urge to scream as Vlad disappeared from the room.

\----_**\-- Danny’s POV (Because I’ve been wanting to do this for a while)**_

My head hurt more than it had a right to. It’s my head, I should decide when it ached. My leg hurt too, but it was nothing more than a dull throb I had long since gotten used to. Pain was bad, but being locked in a basement while a raging sociopath was hunting you father is much, much worse.

I stood on shaky legs, glad that I was at least still in Phantom form. 

“When do I get a vacation?” I grumbled as I bashed my handcuffs against the wall beside me. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt. The metal dug into my wrists to the point were they bled and dripped off. So, I got a new idea.

“Come on, come on, come on…” I muttered as I put my foot against the small space between the cuffs and pushed, pulling on my arms at the same time. The blood from the cuts made my hands slick and I was able to pull my hands through, though my gloves came off as well. I didn’t bother putting them back on before flying up and through the ceiling. I hurried to the ballroom, hoping Vlad hadn’t caused too much damage. I was wrong, of course.

The screaming seemed familiar to me, and I couldn’t shake away the panic that came upon seeing the crowd running out of the building. The only ones who stayed behind was Harriet and my parents. The reporter held a camera up and was video taping my dad as he wreaked havoc in the ballroom. 

He turned and stared at my mom near the entrance/ exit and I saw the way his eyes glowed blood red.

“He’s being possessed!” I screamed at my mother. She startled and turned towards me. I watched as her worry twisted into rage.

“YOU!” 

Before I could ask why she suddenly hated me, I flew towards a flying table and smashed it in half before it could hit Harriet.

“Phantom! Tell me, who is possessing Jack?”

“I don’t- I’m not sure! Why are you still here? Get out! Run!”

The reporter distraction me, and I didn’t notice as Vlad darted towards us. A hand gripped the back of the shirt and I felt him hoist me into the air and slam me into the ground. My vision fuzed and I worried I would transform back into Fenton if I blacked out. My head hurt, there was something happening but I couldn’t tell what.

Everything was ringing and there were stars dancing in my vision. As I laid in the head shaped dent, I found myself searching for constellations. I didn’t find any, and eventually got distracted by the warm, sticky liquid filling my ears and matting my hair together. 

“_I should’ve put my hood up.”_

The sight of a woman kneeling down beside me caught my attention. She was crying and shaking me, her camera hanging around her neck. One of her horns was broken, and there was blood leaking out and dripping down her face.

_“Why’s she crying_?”

Something grabbed her good horn and yanked her away.

“Help, help me! Phantom wake up!” She refused to let go, and on instinct I turned us intangible, slipping through the ground. We landed with a thud, but she made the effort to cradle my head in her arms.

“_Where are we?”_

“Phantom, get up! Please, you need to wake up!”

I Found myself sitting up, and hearing her gasp when she saw the back of my head. It was bad… it must’ve been bad… right?

“I’m up… Akuyaki fight it… Oyasuminasai.” 

I flew back up into the ballroom, landing right between Vlad and Jazz.

“Get away from my sister!” I yelled, socking him in the face.

_“Wait… oh fuck_."

“Daniel, stop. Think about the things I could show you, the doors I could open for you. You, Phantom, and I, Plasmius. Together, we could rule!”

“Can it, fruit loop, your money can't buy my mom, the Packers, or me!”

I attacked, drawing his attention to me as I flew higher into the air and then darted to the other side of him. I watched as Jazz ran over to mom and they both fled from the room.

“I know who you are, I’ll tell everybody!”

“And so will I! You expose me, and I’ll expose you!”

“AHHHGGGGHH!” I screamed in frustration, darting into my father’s body and pushing Vlad out. We both went flying through the air, leaving Jack to collapse on the ground.

*“Nobody uses Jack as a meat puppet!” my dad yelled, but I didn’t see what he did next because Vlad threw me into a wall.

I coughed as the wind got knocked out of me and my still-sensitive head hit the brick. There was a crash and my spinning head could barely process that the Fenton RV had been driven through the walls and into the ballroom. I stood shakily as Vlad phased into the vehicle and pull my mom out.

“Mom!” I cried, but nobody heard. Lucky, too.

“Let go of me!” My mom yelled, kicking at Vlad. She pulled up into the air and my dad began chasing after them while Vlad flew higher into the air.

I found myself in the driver’s seat of the vehicle, trying to figure the stick shift out. Harriet was in the backseat, taping everything.

“How’d you get in here? You know what- nevermind. How does this work?”

She quickly explained how to drive it, then buckled herself into the passenger seat as I started forward. Her camera remained on the fight ahead.

“And I wasn’t going to come to this thing! Ha!” But her eyes darted over to me, then to the blood on the back of my head. “Hey, are you alright?”

“I’m fine!” 

I swerved the RV to a stop right below where mom was being dangled by Vlad and slammed a big red button on the dashboard. I remember when I was given a tour of the RV for the first time. Weapons were built into the vehicle, all of which were built to stun or capture any threat. They wouldn’t attack anybody who was in the Fenton family though.

The first couple shots were easily dodged, but a small ball of electricity hit Vlad in the chest and threw him backwards. I phased through the vehicle just in time to catch mom before she could hit the ground. I quickly let her down and hovered between my parents and Vlad.

“Give it up, Plasmius. If you don’t stop now, I swear I’ll expose us both. Agree to a truce”

“Your bluffing!” Vlad hovered a tad bit higher, glaring down at me.

“Try me! My parents will accept me no matter what-” I hoped that was true “-but what’ll she think of you?”

Vlad’s face contorted into something like worry. “Use your opponents weakness against them, I’ve taught you well. Fine, truce. Eventually you will come to my side, you and her both.”

He gave a mock bow and surrounded himself in a green mist while laughing. Even after he’d vanished, his laughter echoed around the ballroom. I remember thinking that a nap was a good idea before phasing up through the ceiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'LL MAKE YA'LL A DEAL!!! THE MORE YOU VOMMENT THE MORE OFTEN I'LL PIST CHAPTERS!!!


	21. I never liked hospitals...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny is recovering, Harriet knows to much, and Eraserhead is fighting the urge to rip out his hair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> long chapter
> 
> messy chapter
> 
> little ball of HUAGH
> 
> Happy chapter
> 
> sad chapter
> 
> BURN BURN BURN

Jazz shook her brother awake, staring at the injuries with worry. He was in the hallway near the theater. She’d followed bloody handprints that showed somebody using the wall for support. 

“Mom, dad! Help!” She yelled as she rolled her brother onto his back. He was breathing, but the injury to the back of his head must’ve knocked him out. Err, well, that’s what she assumed. There was a bit of debris in this area, but she couldn’t decipher what happened. Luckily somebody had called the ambulance the moment Jack seemed to lose his mind, so they would be there soon. Jack and Yurei soon got there and began first aid, rapping his head up and searching for any other injuries.

“Jazz, go down and ask if Mr. Wilbert could come help, I’m pretty sure he’s a doctor. Or, at least, some sort of nurse.” Yurei directed. 

For the next ten minutes there was a bustle around everybody as they tended to injuries and worried about the fourteen year old boy with a cracked skull.

\---

Danny woke up to his phone ringing. Sam and Izuku had both been trying to reach him for hours after hearing about the attack they were panicking that he hadn’t answered them yet, mostly because nobody had informed them of their friend’s condition. They assumed the worst, and Danny felt a ping of guilt about it.

DAHDANMAN: chill guys, I’m fine. A little beat up, but fine.

SAMTHEPSYCHIC: WE’VE BEEN TRYING TO REACH YOU FOR HOURS!

RABBITBOY: he must’ve had a good reason for not answering.

DAHDANMAN: they said my head got cracked open by debris falling on me. Also, messed up ankle, they think it’s from some sort of quirk healing it wrong.

RABBITBOY: was it?   


DAHDANMAN: Plasmius broke it.

SAMTHEPSYCHIC: I’M NEVER LETTING YOU OUTTA MY SIGHT AGAIN

Danny couldn’t help but chuckle. A soft knock at his door caught his attention and he looked across the room to look. Harriet stood in the doorway, looking inside. She smiled at him, relieved.

“Good morning, Danny.”   


“Harriet? What are you doing here?”   


She slowly walked in, closing the door behind her.

“I  just… wanted to make sure you were alright. I, um, wanted to apologize.”

Danny tried to think to what she was talking about.

“Regardless of my job I shouldn’t have just stood there. And you, a fourteen year old boy, shouldn’t have had to save me.” 

Danny paled. She knew.  _ ”She knows.” _ She could turn him in.  _ “She’ll ruin my life.” _ She’s apologizing, why? _ “No, she already told. It’s over… it’s over…” _

“I promise to keep it a secret, as a thank you for what you did for me. But, on one condition.”

“Yes, anything!”   


“You never become like that Plasmius fellow. I heard what he said, and I want you to swear you’ll never join him.” Danny couldn’t help but huff a laugh. 

“You kidding? Join the guy trying to steal my mom? As if. I promise. Can’t tell you his name though, it’s part of the truce.”

Harriet just nodded. “Well, good luck and I hope you get better. I would’ve bought you a card, but I’ve been talking to police so I didn’t have time.” She slid out of the room, leaving Danny you smile after her.

_ “What a nice reporter.” _

\---

Eraserhead looked over the video. Tsukauchi refused to watch it a second time, so his eyes were squeezed shut and face turned away. 

The hero flinched as the boy was thrown into the ground. He lost consciousness momentarily as the villain slammed the back of the boy’s head into the ground a couple more times. When the villain, whoever it was possessing Jack, turned to the reporter, the camera was dropped to lay limp on her chest. There was a shrill scream as the villain grabbed her, but they couldn’t see what he did. If Eraserhead hadn’t already met the woman he wouldn’t have known one of her horns had been broken. 

The video shows Jack lumbering off towards a cornered Yurei before the reporter darts to Phantom.

_ “Wake up, wake up! Are you alright? Look at me!” _ the reporter shook the boy slightly and his eyes slowly looked towards her. A large shadow suddenly appeared over them and something yanked the reporter backwards, but she didn’t let go of the boy.

_ “Help, help me! Phantom wake up!” _

The boy gripped her and they both fell through the floor and into a lab below the ballroom. The reporter caught his head, but, besides that, they both landed on the floor painfully. 

_ “Phantom get up! Please, you need to wake up!”  _

He did as she said and Eraserhead’s gasp matched the reporters. The entire back of his head was bloody. It was bad, but he still managed to stand and talk, even if it was a bilingual mess. Something about fighting a villain and… good night?

He flew upwards into the ceiling and disappeared. Eraserhead paused the video while the reporter was looking around. A pair of black handcuffs sat near a wall, covered with blood. 

“What are those?”   


“Quirk suppressing cuffs, it seems. The Fenton’s have been working on some, but they don’t work. These ones are designed for particular quirks. The blood is Phantom’s we think. They're in the lab, I'll let you know when or if something's found. ”

Eraserhead nodded and pressed play on the video.

The reporter hurried upstairs and met Jazz and Yurei in the hall. Jazz went looking for Danny upstairs, Yurei and the reporter went to the RV. Jack joined them and they all went through a wall and into the ballroom. 

Phantom was leaning against the wall, seemingly having been thrown into it. He cried out something as Plasmius phased through the vehicle and pulled Yurei out. There was some commotion before Phantom slipped into the vehicle. 

_ “How’d you get in here? You know what- nevermind. How does this work?”  _

The reporter quickly explained.

_ “And I wasn’t going to come to this thing, ha! Hey, are you alright?” _ the vehicle moved forward and Eraserhead caught a glimpse of Phantom’s annoyed expression. Even if only his eyes showed, you could see the fire in them.

_ “I’m fine!” _

“He’s definitely not ‘fine’.” Eraserhead muttered. The detective laughed wryly. The rest of the video was somewhat shaky, distorted, and cut off randomly. The reporter claimed that the camera was damaged. Phantom made a truce with the villain. The attack would end, Phantom wouldn’t expose them both. 

“The villain must’ve really wanted to keep his identity a secret.” Tsukauchi said when the video finally ended with Phantom phasing up into the ceiling.

“And Phantom seems willing to do anything to keep others safe.” 

A lot of what was said in the conversation between Phantom and Plasmius was muffled, but the troubling “my parents will accept me no matter what” had been a total lie. Tsukauchi’s power didn’t work through videos, but he could see how the boy began fiddling with his jacket whenever he lied.

“Witnesses, Daniel Fenton was among them, right?” Eraserhead asked. The detective looked away.

“Yes, but he’s in the hospital. Concussion, doesn’t remember much of the attacks.” There was that unspoken conclusion between them again, the same one they’d experienced only a couple times before. That first time they met Daniel at the mall, then again after the whole Skulker thing. 

“Daniel Fenton is our primary suspect,” Tsukauchi clarified. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thumbs up if you like the beginning note


	22. Dodging detectives and fighting memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Be careful what you say to traumatized children.

Time is a strange thing for a child. Some days last forever, some go by quickly. For Daniel Fenton, today was taking forever.

See, he’d been in the hospital for three days. Now, after all that time successfully dodging the detectives and policemen wanting to ask questions, he was finally home. Except, as soon as he arrived, he noticed annoyed looking Sam and Izuku sitting on the front steps. They quickly informed him that Tsukauchi and Eraserhead were planning to come today and question him finally. He was out of the hospital, he had no reason to deny them.

So, with loud groans and heavy feet, the boy lead his friends up the stairs to his bedroom. It looked normal inside. Normal sized bed, normal hand-me-down weightset, normal everything. He plopped down face first into the bed. 

Barely a minute passed before somebody knocked on the front door, another two minutes before Jazz was knocking at Danny’s.

“Danny, detective Tsukauchi and a hero are here to talk to you,” she said as she poked her head into his room. Danny just groaned.

“I have a headache, tell them to just come up here.”

Another minute before the two adults entered, followed by Jazz who stood on the weightset seat. Sam and Izuku made a point to sit on either side of Danny, glaring at the adults.

“Ask away,” Danny mumbled into his pillow.

“Can you tell me what happened to your leg?” Eraserhead asked first.

“That villain stepped on it, I think, then threw me into a wall.”

“And I’m assuming that’s how you got the concussion?” tsukauchi asked. He wrote everything that was said in his notebook, word for word.

“It’s a safe assumption.”

“But you don’t know?”

“My memories are foggy and fractured. To be honest, I can’t even remember if I ate breakfast that morning, and I have a vague memory of wandering around the woods but I don’t know why.”

“Can you tell us if Plasmius ever handcuffed you?” Eraserhead looked up at the ceiling, looking at the various stars and planets.

“Why would he do that? And, even if he did, my memory is really shady right now, it’s possible I’d forget.”

“Just answer the damn question,” the hero sighed.

“Yes, maybe. He might’ve handcuffed me, I suppose, my wrists were bruised when I woke up in the hospital. Not that bad, though.”

“Danny, would you mind telling your sister to leave, we have something to ask you.” Tsukauchi looked towards Jazz still glaring at them. Danny sighed and sat up against his headboard. He shooed his sister out and she left with nothing more than a sigh of protest. 

“Right, let’s cut to the chase. Daniel Fenton, we know you’re Phantom.” Eraserhead crossed his arms as he spoke. He’d expected some defiance, maybe the boy would use his powers. But there was nothing. Then, suddenly, after an awkward silence, they all burst into laughter.

In their laughter, Sam took the chance to close her eyes and activate her quirk.

“I mean, I figured they come to that conclusion but it’s still hilarious!” Izuku said through his laughter. “Play along,” the boy whispered in their group chat.

“Yeah, alright, I’ll play along.” Danny said as he calmed down. Sam hid her face in his shoulder and continued giggling. “Ask away.”

“How did you meet Plasmius?”

“He beat me to a pulp, next!”

Tsukauchi began writing quickly as the hero rattled off questions.

“What did the villain say after you shot him and caught your mother?”

“Hmm… something about a truce. There was a video. Harriet took it, right?” Danny noticed Eraserhead’s eyes flash with some sort of fury.

“You nearly died, yet all you can think about is keeping your parents from finding out your secret?”

Danny flinched, then looked away. His ever- present smug look disappeared. “I… heard a story once about how they fed their curiosity in America… If somebody had a quirk they deemed interesting, they would bribe or blackmail the person into letting them experiment and examine the quirk. It wasn’t against the law, so my parents continued messing with quirks even after they disfigured their lab partner.”

Izuku and Sam wrapped an arm over Danny’s shoulder as he stared off into space, aka letting his eyes drift among the stars of his ceiling with a dead expression.

“If I was Phantom, who’s to say they won’t do the same to me?” There was silence throughout the room until Danny’s dead eyes moved to rest on the hero’s. “Makes me glad I was born without a quirk, Jazz had a much harder time.”

A ghost of a smile sat on the boy’s face, but the hero suddenly worried over the sister more. Mental quirks, especially intelligence ones, often showed at much younger ages. “Have your parents… ever abused you or your sister?”

“No, not on purpose, at least.” 

“And… have any of their experiments ever caused lasting damage?”

“That’s enough!” Sam said, jumping up. Thank you for your concern, but I don’t think inducing a panic attack is a good idea when he’s just gotten out of the hospital!” 

The adults both looked towards the boys still on the bed as Sam continued trying to shoo them out of the room. Danny was hunched over, breathing heavily as he hid his face from the world. Izuku was rubbing his back, trying his best to keep Danny calm.

The door flung open as Jazz entered. She took one look at Danny then glared at the hero and detective. “Get out.”

The adults finally stepped out and let Jazz slam the door closed in their face, locking herself inside the room with her brother and his friends.

“What the hell?” Tsukauchi whispered in surprise at the sudden turn of events.

\-----

Nezu was asked to help with the case, but he only agreed to join when he heard it had something to do with the Fenton family. Looking over everything including the things said during the meeting and listening to how Danny reacted, he couldn’t help the hatred in his heart. He’d been monitoring the Fentons and their projects closely, worried that they’d eventually let their curiosity rule over their morals.

Turns out, it had been happening for years.

He had openly suggested that Jazz study under him the first time they met. It was- what?- a year ago? No, not that long. Danny was never around, usually in the lab or at a friend’s house. Nezu didn’t think it was important to reach out to the boy at the time. Quirkless, average grades, and practically antisocial. Jazz was the true star of the family. Young, yet more intelligent than most adults. Her quirk heightened her senses to allow more information in, making her great for detective work. She was also good at self defence, having taken classes in it along with numerous other subjects to satisfy her curiosity. Though, even with her intelligence and fighting skills, she was set on being a child psychologist rather than a hero or detective.

Danny, though, Nezu wracked his brain for any information he might have. Danny had two best friends… had a strength quirk that showed up way later than it should’ve with no explanation and decided to hide it rather than tell his parents… preferred to spend time outside of the house and, from what Jazz said, wouldn’t go down into the lab with his parents for the past four-ish months. There was something else, something he was missing.

Eraserhead stared at him from across Nezu’s desk. Nezu had a smile, but it appeared more… murderous than usual. 

“It seems the Fentons have secrets that need to be looked into!” Nezu, no doubt, would begin immediately. Humans, after all, never change.

\--

The first of the secrets Nezu discovered was how the Fentons had set up their proudest achievement: The Fenton Quirk Database. It was actually a machine that, if you step inside it with your quirk activated, was supposed to pull out a few of the quirk cells and stockpile them. It was a strange concept, not to mention sounding much more painful and dangerous than it actually was. They could get the same result by taking a blood sample or cheek swab.

When asking the Fentons for files on everybody they had used for the stockpile. They handed them over with smiles on their face. Nezu, sitting on Eraserhead's shoulder, struggled not to let his hatred show.

It didn't take long for Nezu to see the pattern between the quirks shown in the files and what Phantom had. There were a couple, however, that Nezu and the others on the case file hadn't seen Phantom use. 

Most of the people were also missing or dead. A young boy named Poindexter from America went missing only a couple months after meeting the Fentons. His quirk was overshadow, which allowed him to possess people. However, his victim would have his eye color, red.

Melena Elemental, whose family was known for being powerful heroes. Their quirk was all the same, a core where their heart should be. It did all the same things as a heart, along with some things a heart couldn't. While most people with a core have a single, predetermined power, the cores of the Elemental family's is a blank slate, capable of being anything the person comes in contact with. While Phantom had not been shown to use one of the many elements, Plasmius had. Fire, apparently, which means that seeing as he had all the other quirks in the file, the villain must've come in contact with the machine at one point or another.

Nezu doesn't usually worry about people as much as he did for Phantom and Danny.


	23. The Grey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A young girl has a voice quirk, one she suffers for.
> 
> Sorry the name is wrong. I spell grey differently so...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short short short
> 
> But interesting.

Valerie Grey once met a woman who would do anything to satisfy her curiosity. She would play games or experiment with things that were still alive. She wasn't evil, though, or mean in any way. She would give young Valerie chocolate and send her off.

Valerie would see the woman's son, Danny. Coloring pictures of the moon as she walked out of the house. They were about the same age, four, maybe five…

Valerie wanted to speak to him, to say hello and ask to join, but mommy said she wasn't aloud to talk.

_"Your quirk is dangerous Valerie." "You'll hurt him, girl." "Your quirk is evil."_

Papa was never like that, but mama ruled the household. That's why Valerie was forced to wear a muzzle.


	24. it's like Bakugo... but with better breath.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dogs are more fun when they don't have quirks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy.

Valerie is in a band. It’s not much, and the kids aren’t good with their instruments, but Valerie’s quirk can be used to carry her voice. She’s studied Present Mic for years, watching videos and even getting in touch with him for help with her quirk. It’s only been three years since her father finally made enough money to split from her mother. Three years since she was finally able to take off the muzzle.

The thin pale scars on her mouth and chin make her heart sink every time she looks in the mirror, so she’s kept them covered for years. 

For somebody who couldn’t speak until she was ten, Valerie’s voice was always clear and confident. Even if she pronounces something wrong, or stutters slightly, she keeps her head high and continues on with whatever she had to say. 

Today, however, Valerie is having difficulties. She was having a “problem day” where her tiredness makes her quirk slip. Even though she was technically having a conversation with Paulina, her mouth stayed closed.

Danny ran down the hall, trying in vain to escape Bakugou. 

“Come back Fenton! I’ll teach you what happens when you ignore me!” 

Danny couldn’t understand why Izuku still looked up to the arrogant bastard. Rounding a corner, Danny ran straight into Valerie Grey. She shrieked as they fell to the ground and her uniform was soaked in the drink she’d been holding. 

She glared at the boy, then looked to her shirt and back again. “What the hell Fenton?!” “Sorry, I-” Bakugo came around the corner finally, barely able to bring himself to a stop before he could trip on them and fall as well. He grabbed the back of Danny’s shirt and yanked him up. In less than a second Danny switched from flight to fight and kneed Bakugou in the groin.

“I’m not a fucking punching bag!” He kicked the bully in the gut before turning and running off, leaving everybody in the hall flabbergasted.

“Well… he’s got a point,” Valerie said before walking away as well. School was out, might as well head home.

A panting Danny stopped running when he was a block from school, taking a break to sit against the wall of an alley and catch his breath. A small, blonde puppy poked its head out of some trash near a dumpster.

“Wow, why are you in the trash?” He stepped forward and the puppy came forward. Its fur was matted and messy, obviously a stray. He gently picked it up. “You’re like Bakugo with better breath!”   


The puppy suddenly growled and, with a puff of white smoke, got giant. Danny crouched and changed form, staring up at the giant dog that was now growling down at him.  “Or not!” 

Danny gripped onto the fur by the dog’s stomach as it shot passed him and out into the street.  “Run, move! Yahh Gggghhhh!” He yelled as the dog plowed through vehicles and ran through buildings. When it ran through a store, Danny was able to grab a long chain used for towing vehicles. Packaging was no trouble, he just phased through and pulled it out.

“Sorry ‘bout this!” He yelled before throwing the chain over the dog’s head and hooking an end for a make-shift leash. He yanked, using his strength and flight ability to try and slow the animal. It worked, mostly, and the dog shrank back into a puppy, leaving the chain to pool around him.

“Man, you’re one tuff puppy!” Danny knelt down, picking the pup up in one arm and beginning to wrap the chain up with the other. “I think I’ll name you Cujo.”

Cujo was a pain in the ass for the next two hours.

\--------

Damon Grey likes to think he’s doing the world a favor by working in this research lab. Sure, it’s not run by the most… humane people, but there are worse places to work. As head of security, Damon is in charge of making sure nobody can break in. He had the entire building rigged with so many security measures they could probably have a small army if they wanted. Citizens in Japan aren’t allowed to own guns, but there was no law against the security measures. 

Valerie looked around the lab with mild disinterest, but certain shiny items would catch her interest.

As he gives the tour and points out anything he’d put in. “Digital surveillance, retinal scanning access portals, titanium doors, laser deturents, Fenton Finders. As promised, this is the most secure facility in all of Japan.” Damon was particularly proud of the Fenton Finders, a brand new piece of technology that would detect quirks. They had gotten anybody who worked at the lab along with him and his daughter, Valerie, to let the machine scan them before it was installed.

There was a short discussion about the fee, then a snide comment about dogs. Apparently the boss didn’t like the old security dogs.

“Don’t worry, those dogs were taken care of,” and by that Damon meant he had no idea where they went. One guy said in passing that the dogs were left at an animal shelter, another said they were just left in an alley. Nobody seemed to know exactly what happened to them. The only thing that seemed to stay the same was that one of the pups had actually been a test subject.

Strange.

Loud barking stole their attention. The titanium doors were slowly bent inwards before being thrown off to one side. A giant blond dog jumped over their heads and flecked slobber all over them and ran off. Phantom screamed when he lost his hold on the leash and landed harshly on the ground at their feet.

“What are you!” Valerie screached, flicking away drool with disgust.

“I’ll tell you what I’m  _ not _ , and that’s covered in dog saliva.” Phantom jumped up and flew off after the dog, who had taken to knocking down doors. Lasers bounced off his fur and he could easily dodge the nets.

Even with Damon trying his best, Cujo didn’t stop until Phantom threw him through a wall and outside. 

“I’m fired, aren’t I,” Damon asked among the ruin of the building.

  
“You’re not just fired, you’re ruined.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cujo is blond


	25. Gosh Darn Dog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> danny doesn't know what he's doing (but when does he ever)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you guys should let me know if there's anything I can do to make the story more interesting.
> 
> PS, I kinda wanted to clearify they're already, like, a few months into the school year.
> 
> thanks.

“Look, okay, it wasn’t my fault! I have no idea what’s up with this dog!” Danny held the dog up to show Eraserhead. He’d come after the vigilante only minutes after the lab was destroyed. Sam and Izuku were on the way, he’d called them for backup. 

“Come on, Penciltop, you really think I’d destroy that place on purpose?”

“I think you don’t like labs all that much.” Danny groaned. 

“Fine, don’t believe me? I’ll prove I’m right.” He slowly set the dog down and pulled off a shoe. The boy yelled “Cujo, fetch!” and promptly through the shoe straight over the hero’s head. Mid jump the dog transformed, earning a startled look from Eraserhead. 

“You were telling the truth,” he sighed, relieved. Honestly, he hadn’t wanted to believe Danny could cause trouble. Cujo began shredding the boot and danny hurried to wrestle the shoe from it.

“So, do you know what I can do?”

“Animals with quirks are extremely rare. In all my life I’ve only ever known of two. Nezu, and a cat in America that can stick to anything.”

“Sounds neat, now tell me what I can do.”

“That’s the thing, kid, I don’t know. I’ve never dealt with this before. I’ll talk to Nezu, though, he can help.”

“Fine, just talk to Danny. I’m probably gonna pawn this problem off on him.”

\--------

Valerie stared around their apartment. They’d never had much, using most of the extra money her father earned for speech and music classes. Now the money that would usually go to her classes went to paying the bills instead. She didn’t even have her band, she quit in order to get a part time job to help her dad.

She stared at the newspaper she was holding. It didn’t say anything about how Phantom had destroyed the lab a couple days before. A picture of the vigilante being dragged down the streets by his dog was the front cover instead.

She growled and ripped the paper in half, then in half again. It soon became confetti that she dumped into the trash. She contemplated burned the pages but was distracted by the doorbell.

“Hello?” She said, poking her head out of the apartment. A small box sat right outside the door, her name written neatly on top. Inside was a note.

_ Heard about your recent troubles. Hope this’ll help. -Vlad _

“Vlad? Who’s Vlad?” Valerie pulled a pistol out of the box, then chuckled. “Don’t know who you are, Vlad, but if this thing can do what I think it can, I can’t say I care.”

She fiddled with the pistol until it suddenly went off and shot through the window.

“Valerie?! What was that?!” Damon yelled. The girl startled and dove to hide everything.

\---------

Danny didn’t really know what he was doing at the park. He was aware of the people staring at him. He didn’t blame them, though, since he was in his Phantom form. There was murmuring and quick shuffling away from him, but there was a small group of people he recognized watching him from a short distance away. Bakugo sat on the back of a bench, his shoes muddying up the seat. Beside him was one of his followers and standing next to the bench flirty-like was Paulina. She looked perfect, but Danny didn’t care much for that.

They watched as Danny looked through a dog obedience book Sam had thrown at him earlier.

“Yo, idiot, a dog’s hearing is much more acute than a human’s! Just tell him to do something!” Bakugo yelled. It startled Danny, but he quickly composed himself.

“Uh, sit!”

Cujo sat down, his tail wagging and tongue hanging out.

“Uh, fetch!” Danny picked up a stick and threw it. Cujo chased after it and returned barely a few seconds later. “Looks like you’re faster than most dogs too, regardless of your form.” Cujo waited patiently for Danny to give more information. The vigilante looked towards the teens watching him and waved. “You guys wanna pet him?” Bakugo was the first to stand up and walk over, soon joined by the others. He was gentle when he knelt down and scratched behind Cujo’s ears. The dog rolled over, trying to get the boy to scratch his belly.

“Phantom, hey!” Somebody called. Everybody turned to see Izuku running up. He came to a stop right in front of the vigilante and gasped for breath. “Phantom, the Fentons are after you!”

“Huh?” The vigilante hovered slightly and looked around. There was no sign of the RV or anything suspicious. 

“They heard you’re at the park and rushed to get here. Jazz Fenton called me to tell me!” Phantom hurried to pick up Cujo. “Thanks Izuku, I’ll see ya around!” He turned invisible, then flew up into the air to take a look at the surrounding area. The Fenton could be seen coming from the north, and there was Kumai Woods from the East-

_ “Danny there’s somebody coming quickly!” _ Sam’s voice echoed in his head. He spun around and dropped out of the sky a few feet as a rocket shot through were he’d been standing. 

_ “Whoever it is they can see me… or, at least, they know my general location.” _

There was a short silence as Danny phased through the ground and searched around for a tunnel or sewer.

_ “I don’t know if it’s a villain, but the person has a red suit and a hoverboard.” _ Sam’s voice said. She sent a picture with some difficulty, and it barely lasted a minute in Danny’s mind before disappearing entirely.

_“You think it’s an insta-villain?”_ _“No, they seem to calm. Maybe it’s just another vigilante or… um… just a normal villain? Or, possibly some mercenary?”_

Danny made his way through the sewers, changing form and walking through the darkness. If the villain or whoever found him, all they’d get is a teenager with an annoying dog.


	26. The lab

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything will be fine, just focus on the right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its short, and not very well written.
> 
> By the way, I plan on mixing up the original Danny Phantom timeline a bit. 
> 
> If u want to see Poindexter I wrote a chapter but I didnt think it was very important, so somebody let me know if they want to see it. Poindexter is sorta of a villain in this AU

Nezu listened carefully to everything Phantom had to say. While the boy had refused to actually enter the building, he had come to UA like he was asked. He hovered outside the window three stories off the ground holding Cujo in a tight grip.

The principal sat in the window sill sipping tea. Another cup and the kettle sat beside him, but the boy refused to come any closer even when the drink was offered to him.

“You say you found him?”   
  
“Yeah, I thought he was a stray but I’m starting to think maybe he came from that lab. He-”

“Lab?” Nezu stiffened slightly and Phantom faltered. 

“Axion Labs, I believe. I saw some cages while I was there but they were all empty. He keeps trying to go back, but I don’t know why.” 

Nezu stared into the dog’s eyes like he was trying to communicate with him telepathically. “Tell me his powers again?”

Danny shifted the dog in his hold. “Um, he can change form. Like, one second he’s… this, and the next he’s giant and stronger. He’s really good with directions and I’m pretty sure he’s been trained. He can follow the simple orders in a dog obedience book I got from the library.”

Nezu nodded. “Perhaps… we should investigate the lab.”   
  
_ “He means that he doesn’t trust Axion Labs. _ ” Izuku said through their group chat. It was just the three of them, but Sam had suggested they let Nezu in. he already knew it was them, but had no proof.  _ “He’savictimofexpiramentationhemightbeabletohelpCujobutthatwouldtakelotsoftimeright? MaybeweshoulddowhatSamsaidand-” _

_ “Izuku, cool it. We can’t understand you when you talk that fast. We should invite him to the group chat, I could try to show him what we found when we broke into the lab-” _

Oh yeah, Danny forgot about that.

_ “Ohmygoshohmygosh-” _

_ “What is it?” _ Danny instinctively turned towards a building across the street from the school. He couldn’t see them well, but their silhouettes were visible on the roof.

_ “IT’S MIDNIGHT! OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH-” _

_ “Heroes? Why are there heroes? Is it a trap?” _ Danny hovered slightly farther from the window, eyeing Nezu suspiciously.

“I assure you there is nothing wrong. I said there are no heroes here, since it’s Saturday.”   
  
_ “Danny, I think it’s fine, I only sense a few people. Anyways, I’m gonna connect Nezu.” _

Danny watched as Nezu’s fake blanked in surprise. He smiled again as soon as he realized what was happening and resumed drinking his tea. Everybody’s voice became distorted thanks to one of Sam’s newest tricks, but Izuku’s excitement was still the same. Nezu nearly choked on his tea when Izuku began mentally rambling about his quirk.

_ “Ohmygoshyou’re SO COOL. Can I have your autograph? You’re quirk is High-Specks which is an intelligence quirk, so I’m guessing you work with the police a lot huh? You’re also a principle, which is difficult to I’m guessing. Do you work with people to help them with their quirks because I have a few pointers for some of your staff to improve but they-” _ __   
_   
_ _ “Izuku, cool it.” _ Sam groaned. There was a yelp and Danny assumed Sam smacked the boy over the head.  __ “Anyways, we broke into the lab to check and make sure they weren’t doing anything illegal. Turns out their quirk research was mostly on living organisms, especially animals. We figured you’d be the most willing to help us stop them.”

_ “Yes, most definitely.”  _ Nezu noticed the way his inner voice was distorted slightly and grinned wider. _ _

_ “Great! I have pictures I can show you but I can’t keep them up long.” _

_ “No, it’s fine, I believe you. I’ll be able to see everything once we stop Axion Labs.” _

Danny sighed in relief. At least somebody was on their side.

\------

It wasn’t so much an investigation as it was a raid. Phantom hovered above everybody with Cujo invisibly as they entered the lab and began searching every nook and cranny. They had a warrant, of course, but they still went a bit overboard.

Nezu was the one to have put it all together, and he had his staff assist. For the mean time there was a truce between the vigilantes and the heroes, but Izuku and Sam still decided to work from a distance.

“Phantom, perhaps you should release Cujo?” Nezu said, sitting on top of Eraser’s shoulder. Nobody was resisting, so there wasn’t much reason to get ready for a fight. In fact, I’m pretty sure Danny was the only one tense.

“Fine…” He whispered before dropping down and setting the wriggling dog on the ground. He turned visible and knelt down to whisper into the dog’s ear. Both he and Nezu noticed one of the researchers stiffen.

“Cujo, fetch.”   
  
The dog leapt into the air and grew in size before running off with Danny flying behind him. The heroes chased after. Cujo led them to the other side of the lab before coming to a halt at a brick wall. 

“It’s newer than the other areas,” Danny muttered. He fluttered away slightly before aiming and shooting the wall with an energy blast.the brick melted and made enough room for Cujo and the others entered the room that had been hidden. 

“There’s no way I’m going in there,” the boy whispered. Cujo had found what he wanted, a small squeaky toy, and the heroes had proof of illegal experimentation.

“Phantom, wait. I-”   
  
“Save it. You’re probably gonna try and trick me or something. By the way, my allies have decided they want to be more open about their existence. I thought I’d tell you their names and quirks. “Jackrabbit, analysis quirk. Black Cat, telekinesis. That being said, try not to piss them off, they could easily destroy you if they wanted.”   
  


Danny held an excited Cujo and hovered slightly, backing away from the heroes like he expected them to betray him… and he did. 

“Phantom, we won’t arrest you, we want to help you. What you are doing is dangerous-”

“I’ll die when I say I die. I’m gonna let the likes of  _ you _ stop me.”

And with that, like the drama queen he is, Danny turned intangible and slipped out of the building. 

_ *”Drama queen,” _ Sam giggled. Izuku began gushing over all the heroes. Midnight, Present Mic, a few others Danny hadn’t heard of until now.

_ “We should go to the park and celebrate with a picnic!” _ Izuku said excitedly. There was a chorus of “Yes!” as the kids hurried away from the lab.


	27. Spiraling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theres something wrong with danny, and jazz is making it worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope u don't mind all the jumping around. I'm not good at making long chapters so I jist put a bunch of little ones together

Jazz watched as the kids headed down to the lab. They always took the time to lock the door behind them, but she still wondered what they were doing in there. Danny was looking more tired than usual, and everytime anybody besides his friends tried to talk to him he would go silent or snap. 

She worried about him, and had the feeling she missed something. It was supposed to be spirit week at their middle, and Danny looked ready to murder somebody. Jazz had tried to tell her parents about the sudden change in their son, but backed out when they suggested the sudden quirk appearance had changed his personality somehow.

It’s best not to get too far into that.

So now, with Danny hiding away from the world in the lab, Jazz decided to do the worst thing she could think of: searching his room.

Jazz searched every nook and cranny. Under the bed, in his drawers, nightstand, and, finally, the closet. She found a large first aid kit hidden in a corner. First aid kits aren’t usually as worrying as the nearly empty and bloody one she found in the back of her brother’s closet.

“Come on Jazz think. Think! Danny is skittish, exhausted, and doesn’t talk to family any more. For the past couple weeks he is always wearing long sleeves or sweatshirts… always late coming home at night and sometimes doesn’t come back at all…”   
  


Jazz snapped his fingers as a theory came to mind. “Depression!” Her face fell. “Oh no it’s depression.”

She hurried to put things back the way she found it and hurried back to her own bedroom. She’d call the school, ask if her brother could talk to the guidance counselor. Yeah, yeah! That’ll work. Jazz couldn’t help him on her own, especially when he wouldn’t talk to her.

Danny, sitting in the lab, didn’t know anything about his sister’s plan. He was chatting with Sam and Izuku to try and figure out a better schedule. Izuku had taken note that for the past couple weeks since they found Cujo, Danny was getting ready to crash. Night patrols and school were getting to be too difficult for him, so they would start splitting things up. 

They had already informed Eraserhead and, by extension, the police that Jackrabbit and Black Cat existed, so it was only a matter of time before they debut.

“So, shall we train?” Izuku asked, jumping up from his seat and looking around the lab for any new projects the Fentons had given up on. His eyes landed on a gun shaped in a circle that didn’t quite connect.

“What’s this?” Izuku said, catching Danny’s attention. Danny took one look at the weapon he was holding and jumped up.

“Don’t touch that!”

Izuku immediately dropped it onto the ground. He was used to faulty Fenton projects exploding or Danny being scared of something they made. “Why what’s wrong will it explode should I move it I’m sorry why are you breathing so quickly are you having another panic attack-”

Sam and Izuku hurried to support Danny as his legs shook underneath him. “I-it’s called the Fenton peeler… it’s supposed to pull quirks apart and de-destroy them…”   
  
There was a long silence before Sam suddenly made her way towards the cabinet they hid the paintball guns in.

“Shall we begin?” She asked, throwing the rifle Izuku designed to him. The rifle, though not the prettiest, was impossible to trace back to the kids because he made it from parts he found at Dagobah beach. He made Sam some handguns, but they were all designed specifically for the paintballs. It was scary how good he was at building weapons… and with chemistry. He’d found the information on the paintballs and was able to replicate them easily.

Danny, despite his exhaustion and skittishness at the moment, did well with dodging the paintballs.

They didn’t stop until Danny suddenly transformed in midair and dropped to the floor. He landed hard, and just groaned when his friends shook him gently.

“I’m guessing this is what they call a crash?” Sam whispered to Izuku, who nodded. “I’m guessing we’ll be in charge of patrol tonight.”

Izuku nodded again.

\-------

Sam and Izuku armed themselves with their guns and the refurbished Fenton weapons for the next three days after Danny passed out from exhaustion. No matter what he said or did, both friends refused to let Phantom patrol at night. Sam had her lipstick taser and Izuku had the Nine Tails, which they had, one again, begun calling the Jack of Nine Tails. They both sported the DP symbol.

Though they didn’t take down anybody other than thugs and a convenience store robber, they still ended up drawing the attention of a certain hero who patrolled the same area on the third day. Er... Night...

“So he wasn’t kidding, you two really are working too.” Eraserhead studied the kids for a moment, mostly the weapons they carried. Sam carried her guns on a belt over her left shoulder to her right hip. Another, almost identical belt held her pants up and sported the lipstick.

Izuku had his rifle strapped to his back and had his Jack of Nine Tails hanging on the belt around his waist. Izuku was good with hand-to-hand combat, but wasn’t nearly as well trained as Sam.

“Why would you think he was joking about that? And we’ve helped before… surely you remember bunny boy here shooting you a while back.”

“That was you? You shot me from across the street.”   
  
Izuku waved towards the rifle on his back. “Not like it was difficult, you weren’t even moving around.”   
  
A thought crossed the boy’s mind.  _ “He’s gonna recognize our voice, you know?” _

_ “They already know who we are, but they have no proof. Recognizing our voice isn’t enough to arrest us. Or, at least, not for him.” _

Izuku knew for a fact that arresting people on suspicion was enough in Japan, but Eraserhead wasn’t the type to do so. Guilty until proven innocent.

“Where  _ is _ Phantom?” The hero asked, leaning forward slightly and glancing around the roof they were all standing on. Both kids stiffened slightly.

“He’s… not here.” Sam whispered just loud enough for the hero to here. 

“Is he hurt?”   
  
“Not physically… his family’s making him get counseling and, well, he’s getting worse.”   
  
“Worse? You’d think a counselor would be making him feel better,” Eraserhead muttered. He furrowed his brow, trying to think of some way to help, but everything he knew was useless on a kid that doesn’t trust you. “Maybe try talking to him about everything. Let him know you’re there to help and support him no matter what.”

Sam looked surprised, though the hero couldn’t tell with her mask. “So, wait, you actually just want to help him? That doesn’t… why?”   
  
The hero sighed and stuck his hands into his pockets. “He may be breaking the law but he  _ is _ still just a kid. How bad is he?”   
  
Izuku looked away. “He passed out from exhaustion monday. Fell right out of the sky. The next day he had his first counseling session and was a total mess. Not much I can tell you besides that. “Everything you say can and will be held against you,” as they say in America.”   
  
The hero gave an expression of defeat but didn’t argue. 

As soon as the kids left to finish patrol or go home, Eraserhead took out his phone.

“Eraserhead, is there a problem?” A small voice said from the other end. Nezu didn’t sleep much, but it was really late right now.

“Phantom’s friends have taken over his patrol.”

  
“Ah, and are they having fun working hands on together?”   
  
Eraserhead sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “No, you didn’t hear me right. I said  _ taken over _ . Something’s wrong with Phantom, I think he had some sort of emotional break.”   
  
“Oh dear.” The voice was much more serious and awake, and there was some ruffling as Nezu hurried to get dressed on the other end. “How far are you from Fenton Works?”   
  
“About fifteen minutes, why?”   
  
“I’ll meet you there. I think we should talk to Jack and Yurei.”


	28. Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny can't go much farther.
> 
> Eraserhead is worried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think Danny phantom ruined counselors for me

There was somebody banging on his door. Loudly. Danny groaned and stood up, grabbing an emergency kit under his bed. Another drill. Another loud, annoying, late night drill.

“What is it this time?” The boy grumbled as he swung his door open and shouldered the heavy black backpack. He was surprised to see that, behind his father, was Eraserhead with Nezu perched on his shoulder.

“Good morning Daniel!” Nezu said chiperly. He and the hero noticed how the boy flinched at his own name.

“Just… call me Danny. And, anyways, what’s going on? It’s 1 in the morning and I have school in the morning.” The boy swung his backpack off and onto his bed.

Jack clapped before saying a quick goodbye and returning to bed.   
  
“What’s happening?” Danny muttered, watching the heroes suspiciously. He stood inside his room, hidden slightly by his door. 

“What was the backpack for?” Eraserhead asked carefully, eyeing the back behind the boy. He was gentler, it seemed, compared to what Danny was used to. The boy’s expression softened slightly.

“My parents do drills a lot, at random times. We were taught to keep a backpack ready full of necessities in case of a real emergency.” Danny slowly opened the door, turned on the lights, and let the heroes inside. They looked around as inconspicuous as possible.

“So, what do you consider important enough to earn a place in your emergency bag?” Nezu asked. Danny looked around for a moment before suddenly ripping the bag open and emptying it on the bed. A couple pair of jeans, three shirts, and a bunch of neatly rolled underwear and sock fell out into a pile. The front pouch held a tooth brush and tooth paste along with a single, unopened thing of deodorant. There were no toys, or books, or anything he deemed valuable besides a small wallet full of cash.

“It’s an emergency bag, only necessities can be in it,” Danny muttered absently before sitting at his desk. 

It was a little past 1 in the morning, but the bags under his eyes shouldn’t have been that profound. The paleness of his skin and the bruise on his cheek shouldn’t be that bad. He watched the heroes with a dead expression, and the light in his blue eyes seemed to have disappeared.

Eraserhead sat on the bed, facing the boy. “Jackrabbit and Black Cat told us Phantom was having a hard time.”  
  
Danny remained silent and didn’t move an inch. He seemed to have not processed the information. 

“How are you doing?” It was weird to Danny hearing Nezu ask him that. It was even more strange since the boy knew he didn’t look okay. 

“It’s fine, go back to trying to catch the animals or something. Seriously, it’s to late- er- early for this.”  


The heroes left the boy sitting in chair. As the bedroom door shut behind them they heard faint crying, muffled by the door and a pillow.

\-------

Danny shivered uncontrollably. His counselor, a woman with red hair spiked back into twin horns, smiled down at him from where she sat on her desk. Penelope Spectra, her name was, and she told the boy about his future. Her assistant, Bertrand, stood in the corner of the room as usual.

So far, the counselor had mentioned on three different accounts that Danny’s older sister thought he was a loser. She’d said twice that his poor grades would probably cause him to be held back or, at the very least, keep him from attending any hero schools. Danny didn’t mind that part, and the counselor seemed to notice so she started up chatting about astronomy.

“It’s a shame about all the space exploration being forgotten. Jazz told me how you wanted to be an astronaut, and I have to say that, even if you were born a hundred years ago, you just wouldn’t have a shot with those measly grades.”  
  
Danny looked away and began studying the pictures on her walls. Every photo was about the same, Penelope was grinning wide and excitedly while the students frowned at the camera. Danny recognized the looks as his own. Dead, empty, depressing. 

“... Danny. Danny? Are you listening to me? Ignoring your elders is rude, no wonder your teacher complains about you so much!”

Teacher? Which teacher?

“I mean, Mr. Lancer is usually rather cool headed, but he seems really annoyed with you!”  
  
Danny’s heart finally sunk, and the counselor’s smile widened. Mr. Lancer was the english literature teacher, along with being Danny’s favorite teacher. 

_ Annoyed with me? No, there must’ve been a mistake. It was probably the homeroom teacher, he was always taking the other student’s sides over the ours. _

“Mr. Lancer, you know, the balding one who always curses in book titles?”  
  
_ Oh… so it wasn’t a mistake. _

Danny resisted the urge to cry as he was finally released. The hallways were filled with students who had the same expression as him. Paulina was stressing over her makeup, and her body was thinner than usual. She looked like a skeleton, but her cheeks remained full. She was talking with Valerie, who had a strip of white fabric over her mouth. 

“Hey,” Danny said, standing beside Valerie. He gently pulled the fabric down to see the scars. She hadn’t put any makeup on that morning. “You look fine.”  
  
A small smile made its way onto her face and her eyes brightened a little.

Danny smiled to himself as he trudged away.

_ Even if I’m a failure as a human, I can still make others smile. Is that enough? Izuku would probably say so. _

Izuku did say so. “I mean, I’ve always wanted to be a hero that saves people with a smile. You don’t have any enemies to fight here, but you can still help the other students.”  
  
“Yeah, I suppose.”   
  
The kids made their way outside, staring at all the people sitting or standing around. Nobody was eating, except for Bakugou. Though, I suppose, Bakugo was mostly just picking at his food. He looked exhausted, and his clothes looked more messy than usual. Izuku made his way over to the boy, followed closely by the other two.

“Hey, Kacchan, you wanna sit with us?” Izuku asked cheerfully. Bakugou looked up and stared at them with dead eyes before looking back to his food. When it was clear he wouldn’t respond, they all returned to their table.

“We should call his mother,” Sam suggested, already pulling out her phone. Izuku nodded as well. Danny, however, laid his head on the table and closed his eyes.

_ Why stay awake if I’m not needed? _


	29. "She looked away from me and then disappeared"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Depression and suicide.
> 
> Danny's holding on thanks to Eraser's helping hand

Tsukauchi was often busy these days. There was the whole thing with instant villains, now he had to deal with the new information Eraserhead was giving him. The Fenton boy was depressed? And not just a minor case but, like, not caring about what was happening around him. 

The detective, while never really suffering depression in full, new a lot about it from his job and reading. He wanted to talk to the kid, maybe clear some stuff up.

So that’s what he did. 

Today was Thursday, tomorrow there was supposed to be a pep assembly at the boy’s school. Eraserhead and Nezu were worried about the kid as well, so they wanted to go with the detective.

None of them were prepared to see a sobbing boy sitting on the ledge of the roof. Sam and Izuku stood on the ground waving frantically and screaming up him.

_ “Stop!” _ “Stop!” “ _ Danny come down!”  _ “Danny can’t we talk about this?!” 

“What’s he doing?!” Tsukauchi yelled as he jumped out of his car and ran to the kid’s side.

“He- he- he invited us over, but t-texted us to cancel. We thought- we were almost here so we de-decided to just come anyways.” Izuku didn’t take his eyes off Danny, who was hiding his face in his arms. By now Eraserhead was beginning to scale the side of the building in a place the boy wouldn’t notice. It wouldn’t take long.

“Danny stop this!” Sam cried. She had tears on her face, and her voice was wavering like she would break any moment.

It ended when Eraser grabbed Danny’s shoulder and pulled him backwards off the ledge.

The front door was unlocked, so the kids raced up towards the roof with the detective at their heels. Nezu clung to the detectives jacket, his smile gone for once.

“Daniel look at me,” Eraserhead said. He flinched as the boy screamed and kicked him in the gut.

“Don’t call me Daniel! It’s Danny!” The boy screamed, before curling up on the ground and sobbing again.   
  
“Alright, okay, Danny. What happened, why did you try that?”   
  
“Everything’s wrong, I don’t know what… why… I don’t understand what’s happening.”   
  
“Depression can be hard to understand-”   
  
“It’s not depression! It’s not… It’s a quirk, I think somebody’s using a quirk on me. Everything hurts all the time, but at the same time I-I feel numb.”   
  
The door of the roof flung open and Sam and Izuku ran over to his side.

“Why would you do that?! We love you, why didn’t you tell us?!” Sam pulled the boy up and shook him before an adult could stop her. Danny’s breath hitched and he began crying again. “Sorry, I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have yelled at you Danny!”   
  
While the kids comforted the boy, Eraserhead and the other two adults huddled off to the side.

“Where’s his parents?”   
  
Tsukauchi shook his head. “Not sure, they aren’t home and when I try to call it goes to voicemail.”

The both looked towards Nezu, waiting for his input. “Let’s take them all to UA for a tour.”

That sat in stunned silence for a moment before hesitantly agreeing. He must’ve had a reason for suggesting it, and they didn’t want to argue.

“Hey, kids, how would you like to see UA?” Eraserhead asked just loudly for them all to hear. Izuku’s normal excitement was gone, replaced by fear. Not just worry or suspicion, but full on fear. Sam wasn’t much better off.

Danny, surprisingly, was the one who didn’t argue or try to get out of it. He just stood up, nodded, and pulled his friends along beside him towards the exit. 

The car wasn’t very big, five seats, so Nezu sat on the center console and face the kids in the backseat.

“That doesn’t seem very safe,” Izuku said suddenly, pointing to the principal. Danny snorted, smiling slightly.    
  
“Indeed it’s not, but I’d rather not sit on somebody’s lap!” Nezu’s smile returned and he studied the kids before him.

“Don’t you, like, sit on people’s shoulders all the time?” Sam asked. The principal decided not to mention that she was holding Danny’s hand.

“Yes, I suppose I do! However, it’s mostly because I am a fifth of their size and would get tired walking around so much!”   
  
“Your face says “hug me” but your eyes say “murder”,” Danny mumbled. The other kids laughed, but didn’t realize that he was telling the truth.

Nezu was seriously planning to kill whoever hurt this boy.

-

Izuku shuffled through his backpack and pulled out a notebook and pen. “Midnight! Oh my gosh, this is so amazing. Your quirk is a gas that can put people to sleep, so cool! Have you ever tried to put the gases into a canister or bottle before? You could throw it at people who are out of your range, or maybe-”   
  
“Cool it, Izuku,” Sam whispered. The boy shut up immediately, but continued to jump a little in excitement.

Midnight looked to Eraserhead and the detective for answers but got none. She looked to where Nezu was perched on Danny’s shoulder and slowly sidestepped into a closet nearby.

“That was weird,” Danny whispered. “Did I weird her out?”

“No, I did. Now, continue on!” 

They went past the cafeteria, then around to classrooms, and, finally, out to the training grounds. One of the cities, to be clear. Izuku mumbled about how UA had the best hero course in Japan, and possibly the world. Eventually he began listing some of the best heroes they knew, all of which graduated from UA.

“Izuku, oh my gosh, you think to fast for us to understand.” Sam sighed as Izuku continued filling both his friends brains and ears with information faster than they could understand. 

  
As soon as they entered the city, Nezu told the to stop.

“And here we are, city A!” The principal reached over and grabbed Tsukauchi’s coat before jumping off Danny’s shoulder. “Go have fun!”   
  
All three kids stiffened. “Huh?”

“You don’t get very many chances to practice your quirks, so you can use this city! Perhaps Eraserhead here will join you?” The principal looked at the hero and smiled knowingly.

“Yes, of course.”

  
Danny’s eye twitched.  _ “Of course I can’t be left alone.” _

__   
_   
_ __ “You did try to jump off a roof. I’m gonna let Eraserhead into the chat.”

A few seconds later, with the detective and Nezu walking towards the commentator’s booth, Eraserhead’s gruff sigh rattled in their brains.

_ “So, what are we gonna do?” _ The hero asked. He stared at the kids for a second before Izuku suddenly started jumping with excitement.

_ “Oh, oh! We used to play tag all the time!”  _

Danny smirked at Eraserhead’s confusion. Tag was more of an American game, it was very uncommon in Japan. He took a couple steps towards the hero and poked him in the gut before darting off.   


“ _ P _ _ enciltop is IT.” _

Izuku frantically ran away while also explaining the game to the hero. Everybody scattered, and, once the hero understood the game, they kicked him out of the chatroom.

_ “Where are you guys?” _ Danny asked. He knew everybody would be keeping an eye on him, so he decided to stay off the buildings. Izuku, despite all his training, was not very stealthy. He lept from rooftop to rooftop without much grace. A live video seemed to cut in and out, showing him jumping, landing harshly, and sprawling out on the rooftop.

“You should be more careful,” the hero said gently before tapping the boy’s shoulder and leaping away from him. 

Eraserhead was immediately accepted back into the chat and Izuku was booted out. 

“ _ This is weird. I never thought I’d be able to do something like this with a hero.” _ Danny dropped into a sewer while he thought that. He showed the others a fluttering photo of where he entered before hurrying to run off. Sam shared a photo of her hiding in a building, then another a few seconds later to show the hero had joined her. 

_ “I didn’t even know this game existed. I’ll have to share it with my coworkers.” _

There was a loud screech in the chat when Izuku jumped through a window, tagged Sam, and lept back out again. Sam immediately turned on Eraserhead, who didn’t have much trouble dodging until she forced loud, obnoxious noises into the chat. The sudden noise forced Eraser to stiffen and turn on his quirk to stop her.

“Still think it’s fun?” She stuck out her tongue as the chat was forcefully disbanded. He looked frustrated as she stepped on the end of his scarf. “You’re it!”

  
She leapt out a window and onto the roof of the next door building. She was much more graceful than Izuku, and faster.

Eraser decided to go after Danny instead, mostly because the boy had been successfully hidden for too long. His phone vibrated, interrupting his train of thought.

_ ‘What happened? Danny suddenly grabbed his head like somebody hit him over it with a bat.’ _ Tsukauchi.

_ ‘Sam’s quirk. She was connecting everybody who wasn’t ‘IT’. When she was tagged she forced loud noises into our heads.’ _

He hurried to the sewers, since that was the last place he saw the boy. The trio were probably all connected again, and it was possible they were working together. What Eraserhead wasn’t expecting, however, was or Danny to have easily climbed up to the ceiling and hang there waiting. The hero had been trained for stealth, though, and spotted the boy within seconds.

“Damn, should’ve known you’d spot me. Stupid, stupid-” the boy muttered as he used the broken overhead lights to swing away.

“It’s not stupid, you probably could’ve gotten away from anybody else.” 

In the dark, the only lights visible were the faint glowing of Danny’s green eyes. Wait, green? Eraserhead shook the thought away as he struggled to keep up with the boy. He’d jumped to the ground, racing away. He sprinted and didn’t slow even after a couple minutes. He shouldn’t be this good, his PE were terrible!

“Come on Penciltop, quite holding back!”

“I’m not.”

The boy faltered, stumbling slightly before fixing it and continuing his sprint.  _ “Why isn’t he catching me? He must be worried about me. Stupid, I should’ve seen it sooner-” _

He had grown so used to the chat that he couldn’t tell when he was in or out of it. Right now, Sam and Izuku could hear every self deprecating thought. Sam silently connected Eraserhead so he could hear.

The boy accidently brought up Spectra, and a short, broken voice popped up with some of the things she'd said.

_ You’re sister thinks you’re a loser. _

_ You can’t be a hero  _ or _ an astronaut with those grades. _

_ Why do you push blame onto Bakugou, surely it’s your fault he hits you? _

_ Why don’t you just give up? _

Danny was beginning to cry, but he doesn’t stop running. It was the most free and happy he’d felt for days.

_ Just give up. _

Spectra’s voice echoes in their heads. The feeling of uselessness takes hold and Eraser’s speed slows slightly.

_ “What is this?” _ He asks the kids, but he can feel it doesn’t matter. There was something wrong in the chat. Where was the excitement? The emotion? Where was Izuku’s constant white noise rambling?

  
_ You’re useless, what’s the point? _

Spectra’s calm voice would usually be to silent to hear, but the emptiness of the chat allowed it to fill their thoughts.

“Danny stop!” He yelled. The boy came to a sudden stop and tripped, face planting.

_ Don’t bother trying. _

Eraserhead activated the quirk and stared at Danny. Usually lasting effects of quirks can’t be canceled, but he was grateful to see that the sudden cloud of negativity lifted off everybody’s shoulders. Danny stood, wiped tears out of his eyes, and stared at the hero with confusion.

  
*”What the fuck?

  
The hero didn’t know how to respond other than *“watch your language.”


	30. Fear Eater

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're looking for spectra

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you were wondering how Spectra's quirk worked: she's sorta like a farmer I think. She finds the seeds (of doubt and misery) and she helps them grow so she can feed off it's fruit to make herself more powerful.
> 
> I hope that makes since.

There was an air of hatred hovering over the group of people standing in Spectra’s office Friday morning. She was missing, but there were police and various heroes sitting in the halls waiting for her. She was inside, they knew that for a fact. What they didn’t know was that she was a master at hide-and-seek and her partner in crime could turn into birds.

Eraserhead struggled to contain his fury as he made his way through the school, studying the state of the school. The children were all obviously exhausted, and they obsessed over little things. One girl was unhealthily skinny, one was scrubby her scaled arm furiously with a steel-wool sponge. The hero hurried to take the sponge away when he saw a scale rip off and begin to bleed.

All over the school, heroes and policemen worked to fix the children’s problems as they searched for Spectra.

All Might, despite being the #1 hero, was ignored by the students unless he actively interacted with them. He stopped one girl who was brushing her glowing golden hair furiously. He scalp had drying and flesh blood in it. 

“Only redeeming quality, only redeeming quality, only re-”

“That’s enough of that!” The hero snatched the brush up and nudged her towards a policeman. They’d started sending any children with injuries out to an ambulance outside. There were already many kids dismissed from the building.

The teachers didn’t seem to notice and, those who had, suffered from the heavy cloud of depression as well. Eraserhead used his quirk on some he passed by, but there wasn’t much more he could do.

“Have you figured out who she is?” Danny asked at Tsukauchi’s side. 

“Spectra isn’t exactly subtle, it’s actually her villain name. She works with a man they call Beast, but their real names aren’t really known. I have no idea how they managed to get a job at a school, but I have a feeling one of the  _ real _ staff will be losing their job.”

“The principal is an asshole.”

The detective looked surprised, but quickly returned to his job searching all the files in the villain’s office. The students each had a page she’d handwritten about their worst fears or worries.

“She feeds on negative emotions,” Danny whispered. The detective looked up at him, then to the AC dial. The boy looked sad, and a sigh escaped him before he finally left the room.

_ “She kept the room so cold so I couldn’t tell the difference between my Villain Sense and just being cold.” _

_ “Oh, buddy, that’s rough. You going Ghost?” _

_ “Yeah.” _

Danny slipped into a closet and switched form. He felt more tired than ever. The poor boy silently wished this whole ordeal would end soon. The bell chimed as the boy searched the building, marking the beginning of the first period or, for today, the beginning of the pep assembly. Despite everything, the heroes still allowed the assembly to go on. It might help (probably not). It should be safe with all the heroes (probably not). The kids needed a pick-me-up (they all just wanted to go to bed).

The pep was set up with a small stage in the center of the gym floor. Danny floated around above people’s heads invisibly, though he would flicker occasionally.

“Where’s Danny?” Eraserhead asked Sam and Izuku as they stood at the entrance of the gym. They startled before turning towards him.

“Danny’s- er- in the bathroom. That way.” Sam said and pointed before laughing nervously. The heroes eyes darted towards Phantom as he flickered slightly.

_ “Danny, bathroom.” _

_ “Got it.” _

Danny flew towards the bathroom, then transformed in the hallway. He made it look like he was just entering the bathroom as the hero rounded a corner to check. 

“What?” Danny asked innocently before going in to find a stall. The hero sighed before hurrying back to his post.

_ “Izuku, what do you think her quirk is?”  _ _   
_

_ “I was thinking it might be that she can heighten the negative emotions in people. Or maybe she, like, draws all the negative emotions out then feeds it until it turns into depression or obsessions.” _

_ “If that second one is right, she could be planning something at the pep assembly to feed the misery.” _

Danny fluttered back to the assembly and stared at the “spirit sparklers” pointed at his older sister. She was smiling, possibly the last happy person in the school.

She screamed and flung her note cards as they suddenly flipped towards her and began sparkling. 

“Jazz!” Danny cried before darting towards her. As he wrapped his arms around her, they turned invisible, allowing the electricity to pass through them. Regardless, the boy stiffened when they landed on the ground not far.

_ “Danny?! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmy-” _

_ “Izuku cool it! There’s more important things to worry about!” _

Danny couldn’t hear the voices of his friends in his head. He couldn’t comprehend all the screams and the hollars of the heroes and teachers getting the students out of the gym. He stared at the sparklers still going off.

_ Come on Danny it’ll be fun! _ _   
_

It wasn’t fun._  
_

_ Danny! Smile for a photo! _

Danny cried and grabbed his chest.

_ Danny wake up! _

“It hurts,” he choked. Eraserhead took a look at the boy, then to the sparklers that hadn’t been turned off yet.

“Get this down!” he yelled to nobody in particular before stepping between the boy and the machines. “Phantom, look at me. Look at me, not at them.”

The boy’s eyes seemed glazed, stuck where they were. He was looking through Eraserhead, and the hero wondered momentarily if the boy had some sort of x-ray vision too.

“Haha! What fun!” Somebody yelled from above. Spectra sat on the back of a giant mosquito, grinning down at them. “Thanks for the misery, kid! Didn’t know fear could taste so good!”   
  


Eraserhead looked towards the boy still shaking and zoning out then back to the villains hovering in the air. 

“Jazz, get Phantom out of here.” 

_ “Danny wake up! You need to wake up!” _

Phantom startled and vanished from view. Seconds later he hovered in the air, glaring at the villains, looking around at everything but the sparklers. Before the mosquito, who Izuku told him was probably Bertrand, could attack any of the fleeing students he was kicked in the gut and sent tumbling onto the bleachers.

Spectra, however, seemed to have gotten stronger and faster thanks to her feast. She laughed like a maniac as she tore up seats and started throwing them at the boy. He dodged somewhat easily and was able to kick her in the gut and pin her to the ground. She just grinned again and pulled out a taser.

The boy screamed as he was electrocuted. 

“You shouldn’t… upgrade tasers! You could kill somebody you-you ass!”

Spectra laughed, but now she was surrounded by heroes. “Beast! Little help here!”

  
  
They both escaped by flying through the window over the gymnasium. Phantom remained on the ground, jerking occasionally.

“Are you injured?” Eraserhead whispered, kneeling down beside the boy. There was a moment of silence before the vigilante grinned. 

“Wo-wouldn’t you like to know?” With that he fell through the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> I thought danny being afraid of electricity would be interesting if I ever decide to put technis in the story. Or when they meet kaminari (sorry if I spelled his name wrong)


	31. Distrust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nezu is always honest with Danny, but the boy doesn't know that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly a filler chapter but still somewhat important. Hey I wanted to know if you guys prefer me updating a few times over the course of a week or a bunch of chapters once a week.

“Damn.”

Danny stared down at the chess board. He didn’t usually play games like these, nor was he entirely sure he was playing it properly. Luckily Nezu was very patient. Or perhaps he didn’t even care about the game.

The boy threw up his hands. “Can I give up?”

  
“That’s not very in character, is it?”

  
“It is with chess. Look at this, what even is it?”

  
“Bishop.”

  
“Bishop? Fine, well, he looks like a tool. Why don’t you just tell me what you really want, okay? There’s no point playing nice, what’s going on.”

Nezu didn’t let the boy know how startled he was. True, the principal was very rarely surprised by things, but he found this boy interesting and difficult to read. One moment he’s the most calm kid in the world, the next he’s spouting insults and plotting your demise. 

“I wanted to make sure you were all right after the whole ordeal with Spectra.” Nezu answered truthfully, but Danny stood up and crossed his arms in disbelief. 

“Bullshit. You must want something, there’s no way you’d just- why would you- ugh!”   
  


“Did others not come to make sure you were alright? What of your parents?”

  
Danny looked up at the ceiling. “That’s none of your business. Just tell me what you want.”

  
“I’ve told you already. I wanted to ensure you were alright.”

  
“Right, then what. You wouldn’t want to keep me safe unless you had plans for me.” 

Nezu made a "hmm” sound as he stared at the boy. “You think nobody cares about you unless they think you have worth.”

  
The boy flinched slightly. He opened his mouth to say something, only to stop when a wisp of what looked like frost escaped. He stiffened.

*“Danny my boy!” Jack barged through the front door and stared at his son. “Come help with the groceries!”

  
Danny’s face twisted into something of horror as he realized something, but he put up a smile a ducked outside. He was left to haul all the bags inside, opting to do one trip. Nezu watched the boy putting the goods away from where he sat at the kitchen table.

“Do you have a lot of chores?”

Danny shrugged. “Depends on what you consider ‘a lot’.”

  
“Can you give me a list of them?”   


Danny sighed. “Keeping the lab clean, vacuuming, dishes, keeping my room clean. Random, things they tell me to do. It’s just chores, every kid’s got them.”

Nezu had to remind himself that American families tend to make their kids do more work than over here. The American school system wasn’t usually as demanding though, either. Danny’s grades had dropped since last year, put he seemed to be trying hard. 

“You wanted my sister in your school, didn’t you?” the boy asked suddenly. 

"Yes, I thought her quirk would be useful for hero work.”

“She was gushing about it for weeks. She kept saying ‘the principal of UA thought I’d make a good hero!’ I figured she was telling the truth, but I also knew she’d say no because she’s more into psychology.”

“You know your sister well. However, it seems Jazz has changed her mind."

  
Danny’s head popped up. “What?”

  
“I assumed you knew, but your sister sent me a letter right after Spectra attacked the school and asked if I was still willing to tutor her.”

  
Danny paled again. “You’re not gonna turn her into you, right?”

Nezu laughed, but offered no words of comfort.

_ “Shit.”  _


	32. For lack of a better name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku has gotten used to fixing Jack's stupid mistakes.
> 
> I figured the kids might like a break from nearly dying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget that I love original characters. If u send one to me, I'll totally throw it into the story if you'd like. 
> 
> In fact...

“So, wait, let me get this straight. Your sister, who for the past several years has been obsessing over her well thought out plan to become a child psychologist, just suddenly choose to be a hero?” Sam asked, though her attention wandered around the spotless bedroom. 

Danny nodded.

Izuku was to busy messing with the weight equipment. He had gained a lot of muscles, but he still worked on getting better. 

“It’s part of Nezu’s plan isn’t it? He must be planning to use Jazz as an unsuspecting spy. We’ll need to work hardertohideoursecretidentitiesnow-”

“Either speak loud enough for us to hear you too, or write everything for us to read later,” Sam sighed. She tossed a notebook and pen from Danny’s desk to Izuku. The boy quickly set aside the weights and hurried to write stuff down. 

“We should all go out tonight. What do you think?” Danny asked as he sprayed one of his windows with cleaner and began wiping it.

“I think it’s a great way to practice with our new weapons.” By new weapons she meant some original designs of Izuku’s. Both had new black shoes that went up to their knees. The soles and toes were steel and had a slight spring to them. Their new gloves were thicker and padded so they wouldn’t hurt their hands as much when they punched bag guys. Danny didn’t get anything, but he was fine with that.

“Ugh!” Izuku said before throwing his hands up and stomping over to Danny’s desk. He quickly grabbed a roll of tape and taped papers to the wall before continuing his writing. There was an awkward silence as Danny and Sam watched Izuku write at an impossible speed.

“I heard there's this new singer named Ember going around…” Sam said, breaking the silence. Danny looked up and groaned. 

“No offence, but I can’t stand her music. It’s… what is it? It’s gross… it’s weird… I can’t stand it!”

Sam smiled. “I haven’t heard it yet, but I’ll take your word for it.”

  
Danny shuffled, creasing his eyebrows while he tried to remember something.  _ “I’ve forgotten something…” _ __   
__   
_ “Homework?”  _ Izuku asked. __   
__   
_ “No?” _ __   
__   
_ “Chores?”  _ Sam looked around the room while she thought it, but shook her head when she realized it had an obvious answer. __   
_   
_ __ “...no.”

Izuku stopped writing for a moment and threw a few dozen ideas through the chat in a matter of seconds.

“Izuku, cool it!” Sam scolded as she held her head and disbanded the chat for the time being.

“S-sorry! I- um- did your parents build something new?”   
  
Danny’s jaw dropped. “Oh my god, your right, that’s what I forgot! My mom built these new headphones things that are supposed to cancel out any voice activated quirks like brainwashing or hypnosis.

“Really?! That’s amazing! Do they act like some sort of filter or do they just cancel out the quirk altogether? Can I try them? How well do they work? Have they been tested at all before-”   
  
“They’re like a filter. Yes. They’ve only been tested once and they were considered a failure.”   
  
“Can I see them?” Izuku seemed to have either quit his work on the wall or forgotten it as he jumped excitedly.

Danny dragged a duffle bag out from under his bed. It was filled with various weapons or projects his parents had given up on that he knew Izuku would be interested in. On top were two pairs of what looked like wireless headphones. The green haired boy was quick to pull them out and begin fidgeting with them. The blueprints soon sat in front of the boy on the desk.

“If they don’t work they could always double as techno-goth earrings.” Sam smiled.

It didn’t take long for Izuku to find the problem and fix them. Of course, Jack had forgotten to connect some wires on not one, but two pairs of headphones.

“Leave to him, huh?”   
  
Sam put on her pair excitedly. “Wow these are sooo cool!”

Danny smiled, “I’m glad you like them.”

“Right, well, I think we should get ready if we’re going out tonight.” Izuku, as always, was the one with a plan. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a reasonable one. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to make an of superhero or supervillain for one of my classes so I'm going to be throwing them into the story at random times. I'll include her in the next chapter.


	33. sludge villain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> danny curses at Valerie.
> 
> this is a dream come true for Izuku... or is it a nightmare?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's been so long. also, I changed my mind about the oc chapter. I figured you wouldn't enjoy it.

Right now, they were looking for a villain that had been causing chaos for a couple days. He was some sort of sludge creature, it seemed. It was right after school, and they weren’t doing very well. No matter where they looked, they couldn’t find him, and he only popped up to rob a convenience store or something.

Not to mention, the ghost hunter girl was chasing them now too. Sam found out that the hoverboard using, red spandex suited vigilante that seemed to hate them was actually Valerie. Izuku split off from the other two, going the opposite direction in hopes of finding the villain. 

“Come on, stop that!” Danny yelled as Valerie shot at him. Her helmet, which was now modified to show her mouth, still covered most of her face, but he knew her quirk and was actually a little worried. If she decided to use it, she could cause serious damage.

“You destroyed my life! How am I supposed to stop hating you for that?!” “Whahuh? What do you mean?” “You and your stupid mutt are the reason my dad is a security guard at the mall!” She shot at Danny again, this time with more fury behind each shot. One of them grazed Danny’s shoulder. The lazer burned, causing him to yelp.

“Fine! You know what? Why don’t you talk to your dad and ask him _exactly_ what the lab was researching. Okay? Until then, *Fuck you!” Danny knew she could understand English to an extent.

He also knew that, judging from the annoyance on her face when he flipped her the bird, she knew what the middle finger meant too.

\-------

Izuku bounced from building to building like a rabbit, chasing after the escaped villain. It was broad daylight… people would see, but he didn’t care in the slightest.

The sludge villain escaped, and the boy sighed before heading to a tunnel to put his school uniform back on over his costume. Good thing it was skin tight. 

He continued on his way slowly, lost in thought about everything that happened today. Bakugou had burned his shoulder and bruised his stomach. The cruel words were what really stuck in the boy’s mind though.

_ “You can’t be a hero. But, hey, if you’re really desperate, why don’t you take a swan dive off the rough and pray you get one in the next life.” _

“I wish you would be nicer, Kacchan,” Izuku mumbled. 

He should’ve been prepared. He would’ve been, had he not been daydreaming.

“Hey there kid!”

The sludge villain surrounded him, then began filling his mouth and nose with its sludge. The villain was talking, saying something about possession and how Izuku was a “real hero.” But the boy was too busy panicking about the fact that he was suffocation. Was the villain sure he could possess people? Or was he just so scared of being arrested he was trying new things with his quirk.

Izuku stared at his notebook, watching the faint wind flip the pages as he tried to call out for help.

_ “Sam! Sam!” _

But it wouldn’t help since she and Danny had gone different directions in search of this very villain.

_ “Is this how I die?” _

He felt his vision blur just as a silhouet appeared at the entrance of the tunnel. It was large, with hair that stood up like a rabbit’s.

_ “What is that…?” _ Izuku wondered just as he lost consciousness.

\---

“Hello? Hello?” A voice said as somebody repeatedly smacked Izuku’s face lightly. The boy groaned and coughed. “Oh, thank goodness! Thought we lost you there.” All Might stood above the boy, signature smile on his face. After a second the boy processed what was happening and shot up to his feet. 

“Uh- ah- ohmygosh-”

“Well, looks like you’re moving around alright! Sorry about back there, did mean to get you caught up in my- er- justice- ing. The city sewer system is much more difficult to navigate than I thought! HAHAHA!” Izuku knew what he meant. The Phantom Patrol had gotten lost in the sewers multiple times. Right now, though, he was to amazed to say anything about that. He just stuttered, desperately trying to get words to come out of his mouth properly. “Ah...ah...ah…”

“You were a big help, thank you!”   


_ “Ohmygoshit’sAllMightwhatdoIsaywhatdoIdo- he’s here… in the flesh… ohmygoshhe’sbiggerinperson.” _

“Oh gosh I need to get an autograph, where’s my pen?” He grabbed his notebook off the ground and stared at the large print that took up two pages. “You already did! THank you so much, this’ll be a heirloom! A family treasure!”

“Whelp, I gotta take this guy to the police so they can take care of him. Stay outta trouble!” Izuku was stunned for a second, watching as his hero got ready to take flight.

_ “Wait… I need to ask you something-” _

The boy acted on impulse, grabbing hold of the hero’s leg just as he was leaping into the air. He screamed as they went through the sky.

“Hey hey! What do you think you’re doing? I love my fans but this is too much!” All Might wrestled with pushing the boy off.

“No way! If I let go I’ll die!”  All Might stiffened. “Oh, that’s a good point. Fine, just… keep your eyes and mouth closed.” “Thank you!” Izuku did as he asked.

_ “IZUKU?!”  _ Sam’s voice suddenly cried in his mind as he soared over her head. Danny’s confusion was evident in the chat as well. 

_ “Hold on I’ll come get you!” _

_ “No don’t! I need to ask him something-” _

And just like that, he was out of range.


	34. Breath in... Breath out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku's life is changed forever... Hopefully for the better

_ Breath in breath out. _

It’s not like Danny didn’t take him into the air sometimes during patrol.

_ Breath in breath out. _

Then again, Danny’s power of flight is calmer and he’s usually lifting Izuku up on his back or holding him to his chest. 

_ Breath in breath out. _

“Not a very smart move. Bang on the door for a while, somebody will let you in.” All Might moved to leap away.

“Wait! I have to ask you something, please! I have to know, is it possible to be a hero without a quirk? Could I ever hope to be somebody like you, even without powers?”   
  
All Might turned towards the boy. The steam rolling off him startled Izuku, but the boy was even more surprised when the hero poofed out of view.

“Wha-what-”   
  
As the slight wind blew away the steam, the boy cried in alarm at the sight he saw.

A skeleton- skinny man stood in the place All Might had been only a second before. His frown and blue eyes were the opposite of what the hero once had.

“A-All Might? What- why are you- what happened to you?!”   
  


“You know those guys at the swimming pool who are always sucking in their gut and flexing and trying to hold their buff? I’m like that.”   
  
“I-I-I… This is your quirk then? A super powerful alternate version of yourself? I-I suppose that’s possible…” After all, he had a best friend who was a lot like that.

“Right, well, we can go with that. I’m counting on you to keep your mouth shut. Don’t go talking about this online or to your friends.”

Izuku felt bad knowing that telling his friends about this was the first thing he’d do the next time he saw them. He nodded anyways.

“How did this ha-happen?” Izuku gestured to the man, staring at his arms and legs. To skinny to be healthy… The man slid down to sit on the floor and slowly lifted his shirt to show a scar over the left side of his body. 

“Pretty gross, right? Got this in a big fight five years back. My respiratory system was basically destroyed. I lost my whole stomach. All the surgeries have pretty much worn me out and it can’t be fixed. Right now, I can only do hero for about 3 hours a day. The rest of the time… this is what I look like.”   
  
“Five years ago? So does that mean it was the fight with Toxic Chainsaw?” Even as he said it, Izuku knew somebody as weak as that shouldn’t be able to cause this much damage to a hero like All Might. The scar was more like something that would be made through impact ike a fist, and the chainsaw guy used, well, chainsaws.

“Wow, you know your stuff. It was a punch, and this wasn’t made by that punk.” Izuku stiffened, realizing he said his analysis Out loud. “Most of the world has never heard of this fight. I did everything I could to keep it under wraps. I’m supposed to be the guy who always smiles, a symbol of peace. But you know what? There’s plenty of fear behind that smile.”

“Your smile is an inspiration, though. Being fearless isn’t the absence of fear, it’s acting despite it.”

  
The hero stared at the boy with surprise. “You seem like a good kid, but I’m sorry. Pro heroes have to risk their lives everyday, and some villains just can’t be beaten without powers. So no, I honestly don’t think you can be a hero without a quirk.”

  
“I-I see.” Izuku deflated slightly, staring at the ground as the hero stood and made his way to the door.

The hero said something… something about becoming a police officer instead, but Izuku just stared at the edge of the roof. Kacchan would laugh, after all, he’d been right all along.

_ “You can’t be a hero. But, hey, if you’re really desperate, why don’t you take a swan dive off the rough and pray you get one in the next life.” _

All Might and Bakugou would probably get along.

Izuku was still staring at the edge of the roof when a sudden explosion caught his attention. He hurried to pull off his uniform and put on his mask and hat before leaping roof from roof towards the chaos.

_ “The sludge villain? But didn’t All Might-” _

The villain had a kid hostage and was suffocating him just like he had with Izuku. The boy lept off the building, landing only a few feet ahead of where the heroes were standing. He threw his backpack at the villain, aiming for the eyes, then began digging at the sludge body. In a last attempt to free the hostage, who he now recognized as Kacchan, Izuku grabbed the boy’s collar and pulled.

They landed in a heap on the ground, but Izuku was quick to twist and throw the other boy towards the hero before running off.

The heroes were quick to catch the villain with the hostage freed, and Izuku found himself worrying about the backpack he’d accidentally left behind.

“Midoriya,” a voice said. The boy spun around to see All Might standing not to far behind him. The yellow backpack in the hero’s hands told to much. Izuku was still in his Rabbit costume…

The boy stiffened. “You shouldn’t go through people’s stuff,” he wheezed.

All Might took a step forward, Izuku took a step back, crouching down into a defensive position. “You’re gonna arrest me, right? I’m faster than I look-”

  
“No no, my boy, I’m not going to do that. I wanted to apologize, you saved that boy while the heroes… while  _ I _ just stood by and watched.”

  
“I couldn’t just let him die.”

  
“And that, that right there is what it means to be a hero. You act with only the thought of helping others. The heart of a true hero, something I’ve been looking for.”

  
Izuku’s face blanked. “Uh- huh?”

  
“My quirk, have you guessed what it is? You’re good at analysis, aren’t you?”

  
“Uhh… I’m guessing your quirk is weird then. What is it?”

  
“My quirk is called One for All. The ability to pass quirks on to another.”

  
Izuku stiffened. “Like, pass it on with a machine or…”

  
All Might’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What? No. It's the quirk itself that let's you pass it on. You, young Midoriya, are my choice for a successor. So, what do you say?”

  
“Yes! Oh my gosh yes! You can’t tell anybody that I’m Rabbit though, my mother would be furious. Oh, and I won’t stop my vigilante work, either.”

“You’ll have to stop when you go to hero school.”

  
“Deal!”

  
Izuku felt tears forming, but wiped them away. He hugged the hero, careful to not touch the injury.

  
  
  



	35. Past time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a summary of the kid's daily life for a while.

As Izuku expected, the first thing he did when he saw his friends was tell every excruciating detail from the meeting with All Might the night before. Danny and Sam were more worried about the almost dying part to care about the hero’s secret. They all sorted out a meeting place as All Might asked. Dagobah beach. It was covered in trash, but the kids knew it well. 

“So, we just have to wait here for him?” Danny asked, staring out at the trash from his seat on the safety rail.

“Yeah, he said he’d train me, I thought maybe he’d help you two as well.”  
  
Izuku stared down at the exercise outfit he was wearing, then to the other two who wear wearing their regular outfits. Sam with a black skirt and purple half shirt. She still wore the Fenton headphones like earrings. Danny wore a white and red tshirt and jeans. 

“Oh, hey, he’s coming,” Sam said. She turned towards a man walking up in an oversized white shirt and jeans.

  
He took a look at the kids before turning to walk away.

“Hey, wait!” Izuku called, running after him.

“What is this about, I thought I told you not to tell your friends!”   
  
“Well, yeah, but-”   
  
“No buts! Who are they, are you sure they can even be trusted?!”   
  
It was Izuku’s turn to be angry. “How dare you! You know who I am, think about who the other two people I work with in the field are. Think hero, think!” 

Realization dawned on the man’s face. “So, those are… Phantom and Cat? They’re… just kids. You’re all just kids!”  
  
“Yes! I was hoping you could help them out, maybe train them as well.”   
  
All Might nodded slowly before fishing something out of his pants pocket. “This is the schedule for you. I did some research on this beach, this section in particular used to be beautiful. You will be cleaning it.”   
  
Izuku turned towards the mess, then paled. “All of it?!”   
  
Sam and Danny laughed from where they were sitting on the railing. “Come over here boys, no need to be shy!”   
  
Izuku and the hero made their way over. 

“Hey, what should we call you, anyways? Probably not a good idea to call you All Might in this form, huh?” Danny said as he stared at the hero’s unruly hair.

“My name is Toshinori Yagi. And you two are?”  
  
“Danny Fenton.”   
  
“Sam Manson.”   
  
“Those… aren’t Japanese names.” Toshinori said, surprised. Both kids shrugged.

“We’re both technically from America,” Danny said, before hopping down and turning towards the beach. “So, Izuku here’s gonna move trash for exercise? Man, wish we’d thought of that.”  
  
“Um, well, if I’m training all of you, then I’m gonna have to think of something else.”   
  
“No no! It’s fine, really. I can just work on distance with my quirk, and Danny can maybe go swimming, see if there’s a limit to how much pressure he can take.” Sam hopped down as she spoke. Toshinori frowned. 

“That seems dangerous.”  
  
All three kids held back laughter and turned away from the man. 

“What did I miss?” 

  
All three kids burst out laughing at the joke only they understood before Danny suddenly took a flying leap over the railing. Sam soon joined him, then Izuku.

Thus began the start of Izuku’s- and, by extent, Sam and Danny’s- training with the number one hero. It was difficult, and they would often go home soar, but the kids had fun. Izuku, especially, needed help. Despite all the patrolling and vigilante work, he still remained the least fit.

Sam did work on her distance most of the time, and Danny would often swim as far down as possible. He couldn’t talk underwater, and it was uncomfortable not being able to see or smell, but he didn’t really need to breath so he could go as far down as he wanted. 

Every night, they went on patrol despite their weariness. Danny and Sam typically took the lead, and Izuku would stay in the shadows with his sniper rifle.

The day was difficult for a different reason.

_ “Okay, I know you’re working hard for this, but you need to be careful not to burn yourself out. You don’t have to be perfect, nobody is perfect,” _ Sam’s voice rang through the chat as she tried to stop Izuku from mumbling in the middle of history class. Izuku nodded, knowing his friends could see.

Sam was working on ways to fix her eye problem. Eye problem as in, once again, she’s been told her eyes glow when she uses her quirk. She was thinking she could just start wearing eye contacts that were the same color as her eyes. They would cover most of the glowing, but people wouldn’t notice the difference.

Danny was busy trying to think through all the problems in Izuku’s plan for them all attending UA without getting caught. It was complicated, and involved _ soooo _ much lying. Everybody knew that, with the right questions asked by Tsukauchi, they would be sent off to jail faster than they can say _ “oh shit!" _

Only a week passes by through their training before the trio has to pause training to deal with a threat to the city… or possibly even the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna make short chapters in the party two about the people who's power went into making Danny Phantom.


	36. phantom powers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a summary of powers I know danny has. It you know of any I missed or know of a person in either original series with the quirk or power that goes with a blank space please let me know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need some help here guys!

** _Phantom powers_ **

  
  


Possession- Poindexter

Wail- Valerie

Intangibility- Vlad

Strength- Jack Fenton

Danger/villain sense (mixed precariously with the elemental powers)- (spider man maybe? Would you guys enjoy that?)

Elemental-

Weak telekinesis- Inko Midoriya

Flight-

Invisibility- (maybe Hagakure?)

Duplicates- Twice

Energy beam/ shield-

Danny has the ability to pass his powers onto or through someone or something. Like turning somebody or something else invisible or intangible. I like to think that’s a slightly less powerful version of One for All’s power to pass something onto another. Rather… Danny can pass his power through somebody else. I noticed this throughout the original show, and was thinking I’ll introduce it in later chapters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I accept OCs for the blank spaces too.


	37. Embers burn through the shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a song echoes through the school  
to loud to ignore  
the kids go to find the source  
the students become the monsters  
they all wish to fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would've posted sooner but i'm having trouble with transferring things over... italics don't always transfer from where I originally wrote this stuff so sorry if something goes wrong.

Danny cringed at the boy’s singing. He didn’t know the name of this student, but the fact that his singing sounded like a mix of fingers on a chalkboard and a lawnmower running over a garden gnome made Danny apathetic towards him.

A little while later if the singing boy’s MP3 player fell out of his pocket and shattered on the ground, you can’t really blame somebody you can’t see.

For now, though, Danny was busy taking in the sight of all the Ember merch that had somehow made its way into the school without breaking the dress code. Izuku had dyed his hair an electric blue, and was belting the chorus to the repetitive song. He wasn’t as bad as the other boy, but still obnoxious to a point. Sam just looked around in disgust and fiddled with her headphone earrings.

“What the hell is going on?” A loud voice swept through the halls. The students went silent and turned to the teacher who had yelled. Mr. Lancer glared at everybody before pointing to a random door. “Everybody get to class!”

_“I don’t get it! This Ember McLain comes outta nowhere and suddenly she’s the biggest thing since MP3s! It’s so-”_

_“Infuriating how mindless prepackaged corporate bubble gum is preventing true musical artists from being heard? Yes, yes I agree.”_ Sam glared at Izuku, who was still singing- though a little quieter- as they walked through the halls. Izuku was in the chat, nobody wanted to hear the music taking over the white space in the back of their heads. He’d already entered homeroom.

“Nice earrings, sale at the dollar store?” Paulina sneers as she walks past, completely covered in Ember merch.

“For your information, they were a gift. Phantom gave them to me-” Sam stiffened as she realized she used the wrong name.

_ “Oh shit oh shit! I’m supposed to be the smart one!” _

_ “Street smarts, Izuku has the book smarts.” _ Danny snorted as they walked away while Paulina shouted insults at them.

Colorful insults.

As they walked into class, their homeroom teacher was writing quickly on the board nervously. Izuku had taken a break from his music to stand near the teacher and correct anything on the board. 

“You said tomorrow was review day, then the test the next day. Thursday will be the beginning of the new chapter.” Danny took a look at the dates. It was all in a couple weeks. The boy tried to remember what day it was. 

_ “Uhhhhhh… July 18? No, 19? It’s a Wednesday for sure.” _ Apparently Sam was having difficulties with the dates as well.

_“How’d we get so disconnected from the real world?”_ She snorted out loud, grabbing the attention from the teacher and Izuku. _“We don’t live in the real world, we live in the shadow of it._”

_ “That was terrifyingly deep.” _

Class wasn’t the most interesting thing. Most days were boring, and the kids had gotten used to Izuku playing with grip strengtheners, and the faint sound of an Ember song kept everybody but Danny and Sam happy. 

They made it through half the day before the song was played outside as loud as possible.

“Eeeember! So warm and tender!” Everybody ran to the windows to see what was going on except for the trio and Bakugou. Izuku, no matter what, cared more about his education than a song. Bakugou just didn’t seem to care at all about the whole thing.

“Ember! Ember’s here!” Somebody squealed. There was a stampede of kids rushing out of the class before the teacher could stop them. Bakugou laughed when somebody stepped on Izuku’s desk on his way out. The boy held up a ruined paper. 

The kids left in the room moved to look out the window at the crowd starting to surround the portable stage. Bakugou yelled out at them all to get back to class, but nothing happened.

Ember’s electric blue hair rose as the kids chanted her name. It reminded them of fire.

“I guess that explains her name,” Danny muttered. The teacher left to yell at the students, and soon Izuku tried followed. After all, why stay if there’s nobody to teach? Sam, however, had a better idea.

“Sit! Quickly Izuku, who is this girl and how could _she_ drag you out of the class?” Izuku blinked a couple times. Bakugou turned away from the window, watching the three kids trying to figure out the entire history of a new musician.

“Oh! Your right. Mass hypnosis, or brainwashing perhaps. Her hair grows as the students chant her name, so she must be gaining power from it. The more they chant, the more power she gets, the more people she can make chant.”

“It’s a circle-” everybody turned to Bakugou as he spoke. He stared at Izuku. “- and she’s a villain.”

Sam was already taking her phone out as they hurried down stairs to try and solve this. “Eraserhead there’s a villain at the school again! Her name’s Ember-”

“That new musician? I’ve been seeing her stuff all over UA-”

“Yeah that’s her! We think she has a hypnosis quirk of some kind. She’s dragged the entire school out to her stage!”

“I don’t think that’s enough proof to arrest her.” Sam was about to say something else, but they arrived at the exit of the school. The students were chanting the singer’s name. Ember.

“She looks younger up close,” Danny muttered. Izuku began recording while Sam tried to sum up everything that was happening. 

“Attention, freakishly dressed teen idol! I order you to cease and desist!” Mr. Lancer yelled from where he stood on top of a fire hydrant. Danny stiffened and slowly backed back into the school when his villain sense went off.

“Desist this, grandpa!” Ember switched a knob on her guitar and hit a note that sent a wave through the crowd. A sea of red eyes snapped back towards the teacher.

“Sadako!” Mr. Lancer cried as he stared at the brainwashed children.

“Revenge on the ones who took your childhood from you!” 

Any teachers who were outside darted back inside as the children began using their quirks to attack. Danny phased through the ground, darting up and grabbing Lancer as he rose through the ground and into the air. He hurried back to the school, hurrying to barricade the doors with anybody left unaffected. “Eraserhead hurry!” Sam screamed while they ran through the halls to meet up with any other teachers. 

“Any staff and children unaffected please come to the front office!” Somebody said over the intercom. It sounded like a kid, and some people hesitated.

“It’s fine!” Izuku said, still running ahead. “Menneki is immune to mental quirks, it’s probably her!”

“Great Gatsby!” Mr. Lancer cursed as the main entrance doors were flung open. Great Gatsby? Danny hadn’t heard of it, he’d have to check it out.

They found themselves barricaded in the office, desks and chairs set against the doors and gates down and locked. They huddled, except for Izuku mumbling about all the different ways the heroes could stop this while he fiddled with the computers. Thanks to the heads up by Sam, Eraserhead and many others were already on their way. Danny, however, was stuck in Phantom form since he couldn’t change around others. 

“Where’s Daniel?” Their homeroom teacher asked suddenly. “Wasn’t he with you?”

Bakugou stared at Phantom. “He’s out there.”

_"Oh shit he knows.”_ Danny mentally panicked. Izuku filled the chat with white noise as he went through the school’s security measures. A few things were added after the last attack. He turned on the sprinklers to stop a boy with fire shooting from his finger tips from burning down the doors. 

“Damn nerd, if the hypnosis was caused by noise, can’t noise stop it?” Bakugou glared at the boy’s green fluff of hair while he spoke.

Izuku nodded and turned on the fire alarm. They watched the cameras as the students screeched and held their ears before slumping against something or just falling to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS I FUCKED UP.
> 
> I FUCKED UP BADLY.
> 
> BUT I'M NOT GONNA TELL YOU WHAT I DID WRONG BECAUSE THEN YOU'LL NOTICE...


	38. Secrets Should Be Kept

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the kids sum up the attack for Tsukauchi and Eraserhead.
> 
> Menneki and Bakugou are good with secrets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I just want to sum some stuff up about Menneki for yall.
> 
> there is a nice little coffee shop not far from the school that is owned by her family (though she's mostly taken over the shop since she enjoys the work so much). she makes great coffee and bakes hero (and vigilante) goods and sells them. her quirk was originally going to be a "push and pull" type thing, where she could both make somebody immune to a quirk, and make their quirk even more powerful. maybe it still is, she just isn't that important besides being able to stop Ember from getting into people's heads.
> 
> she'll pop up more or less depending on your guy's opinions of her.
> 
> I'm thinking of making the coffee shop into a cat café...

Teachers and heroes alike praised Bakugou for his quick thinking involving the fire alarm, but Eraserhead and Tsukauchi was more focused on the trip and the young girl they had yet to meet. Menneki.

"So if your quirk makes you immune to other quirks does that mean Eraserhead's quirk doesn't work on you? Can you use your quirk to make others immune too? Does your immunity work with quirks besides mental ones? Do you-"

Izuku was cut off when Sam slapped a hand over his mouth. "You're going to fast for her to keep up."

"Uh-um. I don't know who Eraserhead is… I can use my quirk to make others immune to things for a short while. I-I'm not sure what all my quirk protects me from, I've never really needed to test it." Menneki looked like she was about to say more when Danny walked over to them with Eraserhead and Tsukauchi at his heel. 

“Right, let’s begin. Sorry to say this, but I wish we didn’t meet up like this so much.” The detective looked around at the kids before his eyes landed on Menneki. “And your name is?”

“Menneki… Menneki Kohi.” 

Tsukauchi just nodded. Nothing pinged it as a lie, so he believed it to be true. Suddenly Izuku began jumping up and down.

“Oh, oh! Menneki’s quirk makes her immune to other mental quirks! Menneki, lie!”

“Oh, um, I have long green hair.” Menneki pointed at her hair, which was cut short and a pitch black color. Tsukauchi frowned. It didn’t ping as a lie despite being an obvious one.

“Now Eraserhead, use your quirk on her while she lies!” Izuku looked excited and had already pulled out a notebook to write stuff down in.

The hero sighed before doing as he said. The girl flinched when his hair raised, but she just repeated the same thing.

Nothing happened.

“What… that’s odd,” Tsukauchi muttered. He couldn’t use his quirk on her, therefore turned his attention to the other two kids.

“Izuku, Sam, where was Danny during the attack?”

“He followed us out, but then ran back into the building when we did. Um, I think he got stuck in the halls at some point.”

_ “ _ _ Menneki, welcome to the chat!” _ Izuku said cheerfully. Menneki startled, but turned her attention to the ground. No reason to pay attention to the story if the detective was ignoring her.

_“Can I say it, is it safe?”_ _“_

_ Yeah, go ahead.” _ Sam said with a sigh.

_ “Phantom’s secret identity?” _ Menneki stiffened and began biting her fingers.

_ “Yep.” _

_ “ _ _ It’s Danny, right?” _ A collective sigh went through the chat.  _ “I won’t tell anybody if you don’t want me too. I have no quarrels with you three…” _

“What are you talking about?” Eraserhead asked them suddenly. Menneki looked up at the hero and their eyes met.

“Sam is annoyed that Bakugou is being praised for thinking of the fire alarm when it was Izuku who was able to get everybody to the safety of the office in the first place.” 

“Yeah, what the fuck! We did way more than him and yet Izuku was basically ignored by the teachers!” Sam looked like she was about to smack somebody. The adults frowned. Tsukauchi looked over at the boy he knew to be Bakugou, then back to the kids.

“Izuku was ignored by the teachers? Why?”

Everybody stiffened and looked away. Suddenly Danny’s shirt was the most interesting thing in the world while the boys began tugging at the corners.

“Because he’s quirkless and they don’t think he’ll amount to anything,” Menneki said with the confidence they never knew she had. “But he’ll be a great hero, I know he will!” Tsukauchi couldn’t tell for sure if what she said was true, but the fire in her eyes burned brightly for a moment before they were interrupted. 

“Menneki!” Somebody yelled. A woman with similar black hair as the girl was hurrying over with a police officer at her side. The woman, who everybody assumed was the girl’s mother, pulled Menneki into a hug. “My baby! Are you alright? Are you injured? Who are they?”

“I’m fine, momma, and that’s Sam, Izuku, and Danny.” She pointed to each kid as she spoke. 

“Yeah, well, say goodbye to your friends for now, I’m taking you home.” The woman grabbed Menneki’s hand gently before looking at the detective and hero. She was waiting for them to argue, but they didn’t.

“I’ll see you at school? And, um, my family owns a coffee shop not far from here. You go in there quite often, actually, but you never seem to notice me. Except for Izuku, that is.”

They all waved their goodbyes and watched the girl leave.

“Now, can you tell me exactly what happened when you got to the office?” Tsukauchi wrote on his clipboard again.

“I went into the security cameras while others boarded everybody up.” 

“And where was Phantom in all this.” Danny looked up at the sky. “I-

_ “Lie to him, I should be able to use my quirk on you for a second,”  _ Menneki said in the chat. She had been stopped by an officer just before leaving the front lawn.

“-I got stuck in the hallway and ended up in the bathroom.” Danny didn’t change position.

Tsukauchi blinked in surprise and gave Eraserhead a small nod. The hero just sighed and glanced over at the girl who was finally leaving, then to Sam to check her eyes.

“But, Phantom was in the office the entire time?” The detective asked, writing in his clipboard.

“Yes,” Sam said, fighting a smile. Danny, however, wasn’t even trying. His grin was wide and mischievous. 

“He was with us the entire time.” A voice said, walking up to the group. Bakugou stared at the three kids, then to the hero and detective. “And he saved our asses.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unimportant but I thought it was fun:
> 
> All Might cookies shaped in his face and hair ear things. (Izuku buys them often)
> 
> Present Mic croissant made of yellow batter with chocolate baked on the outside shaped like headphones (still in testing... It tastes awesome "can I try it?" Izuku whispered over the counter. "Sure."
> 
> Izuku helps her come up with some.
> 
> Grey cupcakes with some sort of sugary, cookie cube on top. ("Cementose!" Izuku cried in excitement, startling an elderly woman)
> 
> Cookies shaped into red wings for Hawks.
> 
> Cup cakes with red, yellow, and orange frosting perfectly spiraled up and topped with an edible yellow crown on top. (Endeavour, Izuku whispers excitedly, trying not to startle anybody)
> 
> She made vanilla cakes with a perfect baby blue frosting layer, then dribbled navy blue frosting over it in every direction. ("Who's this?" "You have to guess")
> 
> Kumai Woods, for some reason, was her favorite hero for a time. She made something she called pumpkin rolls, but tiny and she twisted them into small trees.
> 
> Let me know if you've got ideas for any and I'll put them in the story! I love things like this, it's so much fun!


	39. Coffee shop planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio plan a raid... With a little help from Menneki.
> 
> Basically just Ember's back story and mention of a future villain in the story.

“It’s the 14th? How the fuck is it already the 14th?” Danny muttered as he took a swig of his iced chocolate drink. Izuku pouted across the booth next to Sam, but tried to hide it as he munched an All Might face cookie.

“Yeah, crazy, huh?” Sam said before taking a long sip of her vanilla bean drink.

“Hey, you guys enjoying everything?” Menneki asked before sliding in next to Danny. Menneki smiled and allowed Sam to invite her to the chat. There was a table on the other side of the cafe with a couple kids chatting. They were almost done, though.

_ “The cafe closes in about ten minutes, if you need to stay longer it’ll take me awhile to clean everything up.” _

_ “We’re planning to take Ember down tonight at ten. We might need your help, actually.” _ Sam looked to Izuku for confirmation, and got a slight nod in return. Menneki just blinked in surprise.

_ “Me? What could I do? I don’t even know how to fight!” _   
  
_ “We’ll think of something.” _ Sam winked and disbanded the chat, not dropping any hints to what Danny and Menneki were missing. Izuku didn’t seem to care.

“Soooo… yes to staying longer?”   
  
Sam nodded before returning her attention to her drink. Menneki had said earlier that, even though she was their ally, the trio wouldn’t get anything from the cafe for free. She did make the drinks with special care though.

The bell on the door told Menneki the other customers had gone, so she hurried to change the sign to ‘closed’ and get to cleaning. It wasn’t until she was walking away that Danny noticed how oddly she dressed outside of school. At the moment she was wearing a black and white striped shirt and a white apron. Her skirt went to her knees and was bright blue, with rainbow tights underneath. The blond cat ear headband that stuck up out of her black hair made Danny smile a little bit.

She was so odd.

Regardless of her odd fashion taste and habits, she was nice enough to let the trio stay at the cafe after the whole fiasco at school only that morning. 

Izuku flipped through his tablet as he continued to much his cookie, purposely avoiding eating All Might’s weird rabbit hair-ear things. After about ten minutes of silence besides the slurping of drinks, Izuku turned his tablet to show them what he’d found.

“Ember McLain, got her name from her mother’s side. Seventeen years old. She went missing five years ago.”

The file Izuku had pulled up was a missing person’s report. The young girl in the photo was definitely Ember, but something seemed off. It was a photo of a girl swinging on a tire swing hanging from a tree. Danny couldn’t help how his eyes saddened when he tried to think of what could turn this happy girl into a villain who would attack adults just for existing.

“Soon after this report was filed…” Izuku fiddled with the screen for a moment and brought up a mugshot. It was a woman with bright red hair and eyes. She was grinning at the camera like a crazy person. “...her mother was arrested. Arial McLain. Her quirk is called ‘mind fire,’ which lets her make people feel like they’re burning from the inside out. She was a villain, as was her boyfriend.”

“And I’m guessing the boyfriend had some sort of hypnosis or brainwashing quirk?” Danny asked. After a second more of fiddling, Izuku showed a picture of a man with bright blue hair like that of Ember’s, including the spikey-ness. His blue eyes seemed to glow as he glared at the camera. The mugshot said his name was Totsuao Hitoshi.

“So, what’s the story?” Sam asked, still staring at the picture. Izuku shifted in his seat nervously.

“Well, uh, it seems Totsuao and Arial were constantly trying to sell their kids to other villains for profit because of their quirks. Ember would always send her younger brother to a neighbor’s house to try and protect him, but, eventually, she just ran away with him. The neighbor noticed when they went missing and called the police. An investigation went on, and the younger brother was found and put in the foster system.”

Izuku hurried to type some stuff in and another missing person’s report came up. It was a young boy, no older than 8, with lavender colored hair and eyes. He wasn’t smiling in the photo.

“So, the mom’s in jail, but the father escaped and is still a wanted man. Now, his daughter’s causing problems quite possibly as revenge for the mistreatment that went unnoticed by the adults around her.”   
  
Danny flinched at Izuku’s expression. It was determination, but also a bit of pain. Danny opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by Menneki asking them all to sit on the floor so she could finished washing the tables.

For a while they talked about Ember’s quirk, which seemed to be a mind control one with odd weaknesses. Her villain costume, which was very similar to a rock star outfit, didn’t appear to have enhancers or support gear besides her purple guitar. The guitar had knobs on it that let her change how her quirk affected people. One minute they’re happy, then attacking. There was still one knob they had yet to see, though.

“So it’s your quirks that allow you to be immune to the music, right?” They all turned to Menneki, who had hung up her apron and seemed ready to leave. “You’re immune, but are there any flaws to it?”   
  


They all looked at each other before turning back to her. “I mean, your immune for now, but what if she amps up her power? Is there any way for the hypnosis to control you?”   
  
Danny stood, along with his friends, before following the girl to the exit. “If she  _ could _ control me, wouldn’t she have done so already?”   
  
Menneki hummed and tapped her cheek in thought. “Did she even know you were there?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hitoshi Shinso won't be a villain... just wanted to clear that up. Also, if you want to see him in the story some, I'm totally down to write him in a bunch.


	40. MemeMan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Attack on the villain known as Ember.
> 
> Mistakes were made.
> 
> Memes were hollered.
> 
> And Eraserhead labels Menneki as an unofficial member of the Phantom Patrol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't important bit i just wanted to say that I'm really sorry for the stupid names I come up with. 
> 
> Like Yurei (Danny's mom). I thought I was being clever, but it turns out that the name literally just means ghost. 
> 
> And Totsuao (I pronounce it totes- oo- ow) was literally a combination of pain and blue. He's basically a bruise.
> 
> And Menneki is just... Immunity. It literally means immunity in japanese. I don't even remember what her first name meant.
> 
> Making names for japanese people are really fun, even if I'm not doing it right.

Danny landed on top of a music store with Izuku and Sam by his sides. They stare down at the giant flock of teenagers trying to cram themselves inside. 

“You shouldn’t be here,” an annoyed voice said. The kids startle and turned to see Eraserhead glaring at them. Luckily, the cat and rabbit were already in their suits, including the masks. “You’re just kids.”   
  
“And you’re just an adult, now fill us in on the hero’s plans so we can help.” Danny crossed his arms and glared back at the man.

“There isn’t one.” 

“Uh-huh?” Izuku muttered. The chat was filled to the brim with Izuku’s muttering about everything that could go wrong if the heroes did act. Hostages, killing, revenge. Ember could turn the crowd into an army of innocent people.

“We could at least try!” Danny said, stomping his foot like a kid throwing a tantrum. The boy knew his sister was here, possibly already inside trying to get a good spot to listen to the song.

Song, as in singular. Ember hadn’t bothered to write others.

“We’ve figured out that people chanting her name makes her stronger. The more they chant, the more people she can hypnotise. Her name’s Ember McLain.”   
  
Eraserhead sighed and walked over until he was standing next to Danny and staring over the edge of the building. “We already know all that.”   
  
“Well, did you know that obnoxious noises stop the quirk?”   
  
“Yes, I got that from the fire alarm thing.”   
  
“Well… did you know she’s doing this to get revenge because she was abused and nobody tried to help her?” Sam spat. She was glaring too, not that anybody could tell. Eraserhead stiffened, his teeth grinding. 

“No, I was not informed of this. What happened with her family?”   
  
“Her mom’s in jail, dad’s on the run, and younger brother is lost in foster care,” Izuku supplied. Eraserhead seemed even more agitated as he tapped his foot and crossed his arms.

_ “Distract him,” _ Danny said to Izuku. In response, the boy word vomited about Ember’s quirk and its possible weaknesses.    
  
_ “Take me too, Danny, _ ” Sam said, taking his hand while the hero’s back was turned. The boy turned them both intangible and sank into the ground right as Eraserhead turned back, eyes bright red and hair standing on end.    
  
“Damnit Phantom!” 

Both kids snickered as they flew into the store. Cameras were pointed to the stage, broadcasting live to the world. The song was about to start, and the villain’s hair was standing twice as tall as it did earlier that day.    
  
“Are you ready?!” Ember cried. The crowd cheered, but one voice cut through the air louder than anybody else’s.

“AYE AYE CAPTAIN!” A boy’s voice said. There was a wave of laughter, but nobody could tell were the voice had come from.

“Don’t mock me!” Ember yelled, momentarily breaking her persona to stare out at the crowd to try and find the voice. 

“DoN’t MoCK mE.” You could practically hear the meme as the boy spoke.

“Who said that! Agh!” Ember screamed into the microphone. She failed to realize that the boy, whoever it was, had provided enough of a distraction for Danny jump down and throw the cameras to the ground. She immediately saw the vigliante and swung her guitar into his gut. 

_ “What the fuck Danny. Did you forget that you can turn intangible?” _

Danny’s chuckling filled the chat as he tried to stand back up. As Ember aimed her guitar and strung a note, the boy tried to turn intangible. Sound waves, apparently, still affect him because he found himself shooting through a wall and into the street. 

“You think you’re so great!” She screamed as she ran and lept threw the hall in the wall. “I could destroy you with my eyes closed!”   
  
“So why haven’t you?!” Danny yelled back before darting into the sky so her attacks wouldn’t hit any buildings. Plus, she had to twist awkwardly to aim and strum her guitar.

“My boss laid claim to you.” Upon seeing the boy’s startled reaction, Ember laughed and shot an attack that blew him into another building. He hit the wall hard enough to knock the wind out of him. He slid to the ground and sat there gasping for breath.

“Get away from him!” Sam cried, running to stand between the approaching villain and her friend.

“Oh? What do we have here? Lovebirds! How adorable!” Ember mocked. “I have a perfect solution.”   
  
She changed the guitar to the third, unknown setting and strung an attack at them. It passed through Sam and into Danny.

“Have a nice life, lovebirds.” The villain ran off to climb into a car down the street. 

“Phantom? Phantom are you alright?!” Sam said, kneeling down in front of him and shaking his shoulders. The fire alarms in the store went off, causing a panic and stampede of teenagers running out of the building.   
  
“Like the songs of love,” Danny mumbled, smiling up at Sam. His green eyes had seemed to glaze over with pink. “Would you like to dance with me?”   
  
Sam had the urge to smack him, maybe that would end the spell.

“Cat! Phantom!” Izuku called as he ran up to them. Eraserhead ran behind him, watching the kids fleeing the scene. A couple kids caught his attention when he stared through the hole in the wall. One was wearing a black hoodie, the other he recognized as Menneki, wearing the weirdest and brightest colors he’d ever seen. They split up, the stranger running with the crowd, the girl hurrying to climb through the wall and towards the group.

“Cat, my darling, my love, why did I ever ask you to hide your beautiful face?”   
  
Sam smacked away Danny’s hand as it reached for her mask.

“He’s under some sort of love spell type thing. Menneki, do you think you can stop it?”   
  
The girl startled at Sam’s voice, then glanced over at Eraserhead. “I-I-I-” 

“I, pro hero Eraserhead, give you permission to use your quirk  _ only _ to break brainwashing quirks on the vigilante named Phantom.” The hero stared at the girl as she slowly knelt beside Danny and put her hands on either side of his face. She closed her eyes, and her hands began to glow with a faint white light.

A few seconds later, the glaze over his eyes disappeared. 

“It’s more difficult to dispel a quirk at work than it is to just block one,” Menneki said nervously, rubbing the back of her neck.

“It’s fine, thank you,” Sam said as she helped her friend off the ground. The hero was still angry, but he seemed more interested in what Izuku was mumbling under his breath. The third knob was to enhance positive emotions, the second to enhance negative ones, the third to make people love  _ Ember _ . 

“You know more about the villain than even we do,” the hero said suddenly. Izuku startled, but Danny just snorted.

“Do you mean more than _ you _ do? You weren’t very well informed judging from what you said earlier.”   
  
The hero glared. “I noticed you’ve got a new member of your little group. You probably should’ve had her cover her face.”   
  
Danny turned to where Menneki had been standing not to long ago, only to see she was running away down the street. She met up with a hooded person and they both fled towards the bus station.

“Menneki isn’t one of us, don’t drag her into it.” Danny sneered.

“I could say the same thing to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's the boy in the hood? The world may never know...
> 
> Except for Menneki, lol.


	41. The Neighbor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The show must go on...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As requested, Hitoshi Shinso.
> 
> BTW I'm still having difficulties with italics, let me know if something slipped through my proof reading.
> 
> I also changed he song a little more so it would somewhat fit with Embers back story.

_ “Gosh, did I really say that?”  _ Danny mumbled through the chat. Sam, somehow, had increased her distance and was able to hold the chat, though it seemed really faint, to talk with both boys without any parents knowing.

_ “Yeah. I swear, for a moment there you were the weird stalker girlfriend.” _

Izuku snorted. He was having a sleepover with Danny, sleeping on the floor next to danny’s bed on a bright green air mattress with FENTON FUTON written on it in blue. It annoyed both boys, mostly because it wasn’t a futon. 

_ “Who do you think the boy was? The one in a hoodie? _ ” Izuku asked. He stared up at the ceiling, eyes darting around while he filled the chat with his white noise rambling.    
  
_ “Don’t know, Menneki seems to be his friend though, so she probably just asked him to help cause a distraction.” _ Sam reasoned. Izuku pursed his lips, not wanting to argue, but obviously not believing it.

“Danny, is it really okay for us to be sleeping when Ember is out there?” Izuku whispered. Danny felt a little bad, with the date and everything... 

“We need our rest. We’ll catch her at the show tomorrow at noon.” Danny glanced over at the clock over his desk. It was midnight, they were all supposed to be asleep hours ago but they’d snuck out to catch the villain. Er… try to catch the villain… 

It took awhile longer to fall asleep, but the next morning, the chat was back up and the kids planned the raid while getting ready for the morning. School was supposed to resume, though they had a hero or two who would stay in case Ember came around again. Izuku was gushing about how he’d found out it was Kumai Woods, but neither Danny or Sam bothered asking how he got that information. 

He already had his notebook and a pen in hand when they arrived at school 15 minutes early. 

“Can I have- would you maybe sign my notebook?!” Izuku gushed. The hero nodded and signed it, then gave a brief warning to the boy to not bother heroes while they are working. Izuku nodded and hurried into the building, holding his notebook like it was a priceless artifact.

“Thank you! I’ll treasure it forever!”   
  
They left just before Menneki showed up, gushing over her favorite hero and asking him what his favorite dessert was so she could make some for her shop. 

*“So, the show at noon, we’ve got lunch break at that time. Do you think half an hour is enough time to take down a villain?” Sam asked. 

Danny shrugged. *"Time is weird when you're fighting. It could feel like half an hour, but only be a few minutes, or visa versa."

Izuku rambled on about Kumai Woods' quirk until they finally entered first period. Their homeroom teacher still looked frazzled, his usually tidy clothes wrinkled and hair uncombed.

"We're going to continue with the lesson I had planned for yesterday."

And thus began the most boring day in a while. Everything was made worse by the fact that the trio were impatient for the raid.

"I want in." Bakugou said, blocking the exit of the classroom for the trio so they couldn't go for lunch. 

"Wh-what are you… I don't know what you're talking about, Kacchan!" Izuku tried to say. It came out as such a rambling mess that anybody could tell it was a total lie.

Bakugou slammed a hand into the wall. "I mean I know you three are the Phantom Patrol. You plan on disobeying the only rule the school laid out for the day and sneaking to the Ember concert. I know you three have been doing stupid fucking things and beating the bad guys."

"And, what, we let you in or you tell the authorities?" Danny glared at the blond boy. "Or do you think we're big enough idiots to think you'd do anything out of the goodness of the black hole you call a heart."

"Danny-!" Izuku tried to argue, but the pure fury on his friends face made him pause.

"I don't like you, Bakugou. I never will. You're a bully and, as far as im conserned, a villain in the making. No amount of determination to become a hero is going to make me forget the things you've done to us."

The bully did nothing but step aside. “I won’t tell anybody, but you better not make me regret it! You understand?! NONE OF YOU ARE ALLOWED TO DIE!”   
  
The trio hurried out, leaving the boy to watch after them. 

_ “Where’s Menneki _ ?” Izuku asked as they snuck into a closet they knew was camera-less. Danny quickly changed form and grabbed onto them.

_ “She said she’d meet us there. She had to ‘grab something,’” _ Sam said. Danny had already turned them all intangible and was flying them through ceilings. They were silent until they landed near the stage. It was set up in a park, the trees offering shade to hundreds of kids who were sitting around and napping. A few of them were tired and ragged looking.

_ “Runaways,” _ Menneki said as soon as Sam let her into the chat. Izuku began rambling questions he’d been trying to answer for a while.

_“How can you be in the chat if you’re immune?”___  
__  
__“Because I gave permission maybe? Anyways, we’re over by a park bench, turn around, see us? See me now?”   
  
Danny looked over the crowd until his eyes landed on Menneki in her school uniform with a neon sweatshirt over it. The boy beside her had his black hood up, but his pants looked to be a uniform. He was dressed the same as the night before, and the trio recognized him as the distraction.

“Hey guys!” Menneki said cheerfully as the trio made their way over. She linked her arm with the boy as he stared down at the ground, successfully hiding his face. “I want you to meet my friend! You might know him, or, at least,  _ of _ him.”   
  
The boy lowered his hood to show his purple hair and eyes. He looked exhausted, and he didn’t smile. “Hitoshi Shinso, pleasure to meet you.”   
  
The kids stared in surprise until Izuku broke the silence. “Oh my gosh it’s you! I didn’t think I'd ever get to meet you! You have an amazing quirk, great for hero work! Are you planning to be a hero?”

Hitoshi blinked a couple times before putting his hood back on. “Yes, I do plan to be a hero. Have you come up with a plan?”   
  
Danny hesitated in answering, so Sam went ahead with it. “We decided on a sneak attack. Eraserhead will be off to the side, and will work on subduing her once we steal her guitar.” Sam pointed to one side of the stage, where a man was leaning against a tree and watching all the students, then to another. “Danny will fly from over there, through the stage, grab the guitar, and flee towards where Eraserhead is.”   
  


“And what about us?” Menneki asked while Shinso watched a few dozen more kids trickle into the park. 

“You’ll stand and wait with Eraserhead and help subdue her. Remember not to use your quirks though. Except for you, Menneki, you don’t have much of a choice.”    
  
The girl nodded and grabbed Hitoshi’s attention back before dragging him through the crowds to Eraserhead. Sam and Izuku couldn’t do much since they were out of their costumes, so they focused on making sure everything went smoothly. Sam sat off to the side where Danny got ready, and kept the chat open between everybody but Hitoshi (and Menneki because she didn’t want to).

She would later say she didn’t want to spook him… but that’s a lie.

Izuku offered words of encouragement and relayed what they should do if something different happened. If she somehow grabbed Danny, he should turn intangible. If she threw the drums that were on stage or attacked the kids, they needed to protect the civilians.

Finally, after waiting ten minutes, Ember walked on stage, somehow not noticing Eraserhead or the two kids beside him. She didn’t really have anybody to play drums or bass guitar like she did at the school, but the instruments remained there. 

“Are you ready kids?!”   
  
In response, the crowd cheered “AYE AYE CAPTAIN!”

And then Danny struck. She stepped back and strummed, laughing as he flew past her. 

_ “Yeah! Ohh- oooohhhh!” _

Danny swung at her, but missed by a hair. Off to the side, Eraserhead was straining and glaring, unsure of why his quirk couldn’t stop her.   
  
_ “It was- it was September,  _

_ Wind blows, the dead leaves fall…” _

Hitoshi winced, remembering what she was talking about. Danny just continued attacking, trying to ignore the chanting of kids and the devilish grin on the villain’s face.

_ “To you, I did surrender, _

_ Two weeks you didn’t care…” _

Danny swiped at her, Sam blurting out holes in her form and Izuku telling him to focus only on the fighting. Menneki was keeping them all immune, but she can only hold it for so long.

_ “Your life goes on without me, _

_ My life, your favorite game…” _

Menneki’s quirk began fading from Izuku first, and the boy ran off to try and get some distance so he couldn’t hurt his friends.

_ “But you should- you should not doubt me, _

_ You will remember my name…” _

She smacked Danny in the gut with her guitar, throwing him upwards again. She laughed and strummed a note that pushed him over the crowd.

_ “Oh Ember, you will remember! _ __   
_ Ember, one thing remains.  _ _   
_ __ Oh Ember, so warm tender!

_ You will remember the name! _ __   
_   
_ __ “Your heart, your heart abandoned,

_ You’re cruel, now bear the shame. _

_ Like dead trees, in cold December, _

_ Nothing but ash remains…” _

Hitoshi ran on stage, grabbed a bass guitar, and slammed it over her head. 

A few seconds later, Ember’s guitar was in Hitoshi’s hands and she was trying to flee off the stage. Eraserhead tied her up.

“You really think you can hold me? Can’t you hear them?!” The girl laughed in his face as the teens chanted her name. Her hair grew higher, like a fire. In curiosity, the hero hovered his hand through it, only to pull back when it stung him.

“As long as  _ they _ chant  _ my  _ name, there’s no prison in the world that can control me!” Ember laughed more, until Menneki, who’s face was covered, put a finger on her chin in thought.

“What if they chant somebody else’s name?”   
  
The group went deathly silent until she smiled and grabbed Hitoshi’s arm, pulling him onto the stage. *“Crazy Train!”

She took a seat at the drums while Hitoshi readied himself to play the guitar that matched his hair. The crowd went silent as the boy shredded his guitar to get their attention.

“My name’s Puppeteer, now who’s ready to rock?!”   
  


A cheer went through as the two began playing. Despite the language barrier, and the fact they they didn’t have the other instruments, the chanting turned from Ember to Puppeteer. A cry of frustration sounded from just off stage as Ember’s blue flame of hair faded to a pixie cut. 

_ “Ember must’ve taught him when they were younger,” _ Sam explained. Eraserhead just blinked, refusing to show his confusion. 

_ “Who is he?” _

_ “Hitoshi Shinso,” _ Danny replied. He dropped down with Izuku in his hold. Both boys watched Ember while she sat silently on the ground.

Eraserhead activated his quirk on Hitoshi, and sighed in relief to see that the crowd was still cheering. No quirk was being used this time, just honest talent.

_ “Who are you?” _ Izuku breathed as Menneki entered the chat again. She laughed.

_ “I was the neighbor.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Menneki is officially a bridge between all the characters. A colorful, unreadable, extremely unstable bridge, but a bridge nonetheless.
> 
> In case you didnt get it, Menneki was the neighbor of the McLains and Hitoshis that called the police when she noticed that Ember and Shinso were missing.
> 
> I had a perfect line in the story but I decided to change some stuff around so that there's a secret villain making the phantom patrol's lives more difficult. 
> 
> Some little facts you might like but will probably never be mentioned in the story unless I change my mind:
> 
> Hitoshi shinso was able to find his way back to Menneki no matter what because the girl convinced her parents to keep the coffee shop. Thats why she runs it, its her responsibility.
> 
> Hitoshi and her tried to start a band a couple years ago because ember taught them how to play the electric guitar and drums, but nobody wanted to join with a brainwasher, so the kids just played with those two instruments.
> 
> Menneki once offered Hitoshi a job and that's why she's working to change her shop into a cat cafe.
> 
> Hitoshi is still in the foster care and isn't treated well. I originally wanted to introduce him with a black eye and busted lip, I might add into that later on.
> 
> The original scene was supposed to be that Menneki would wear hitoshis hoody and hide her face. Then, when they ended the song, ember was going to recognize her brother and curse him out.
> 
> "Why would you better me like this?! They watched us suffer and did nothing! Nobody noticed our pain except for that little girl across the street."
> 
> Menneki has more secrets than any of the other characters in the story, and I'm thinking y'all are gonna hate me when you learn them.


	42. Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short thing.

“Happy Birthday!” Everybody cheered as the trio walked into the apartment after a long day at school. ‘Everybody’ consisted of Menneki, Inko Midoriya, Toshinori Yagi, and Cujo. that last one couldn’t talk, and probably shouldn’t be in the Midoriya house, but he seemed calm enough while chewing on his squeaky toy. 

Only a few hours ago they were taking down Ember, know they were celebrating Izuku’s birthday. 

“Wow, thanks everyone!” Izuku gushed over Toshinori, thanking him profusely for coming. A large, green gift wrapped tin was shoved into Izuku’s stomach by an excited Menneki. Soon the presents were being opened. Menneki had given him a tin full of All Might cookies and she’d provided the cake for the party. It was large, with a collage of various heroes she knew Izuku liked in a cartoonish style. Eraserhead, All Might, Kumai Woods (that’s her favorite), and a few others that stood in fighting stances. Toshinori had gotten him a bunch of random posters and photos signed by heroes. Danny gave him tools and new notebooks. Sam, though she didn't want the adults to see, had painted a picture of the three of them in their vigilante gettups. It was hung in Izuku;s closet, hidden behind his clothing.

They were just finishing dinner when the doorbell rang.

“Oh! That must be the others.” Sam said. She moved to stand up, but Inko was faster. She moved to answer the door while Izuku stood to gather the finished plates and glasses.

“Others?” Izuku asked, looking to Sam for the answer. She just smiled.

“Hello, sorry we’re late!” Izuku startled at the voice, nearly dropping the plates. Eraserhead strolled in with Nezu perched on his shoulder and a green gift bag in one hand.

“I didn’t think you guys would actually come,” Danny smiled and waved. The poor boy looked exhausted despite it only being about six. Sam helped clear the table while Menneki just watched Nezu climb down using the hero’s scarf and walk up to her chair.

“Hello! I don’t believe we’ve met?” He offered his hand to Menneki, who gaped in surprise.

“Uh-hum, my name’s Menneki Kohi.”

“Nezu.” They shook hands, the girl rubbing a finger over his paw gently.

“You’re really soft, I don’t think humans can get their hair or fur like this even with a mutation quirk. Are you like Cujo?”

“You mean an animal with a quirk? Yes, I am! Good eye!”

Menneki’s eyes seemed to sparkle in amazement. “That’s so cooooool. You can talk, so your quirk’s an IQ one?”

“Indeed it is, a great deduction! Or did Izuku or the others inform you?”

“Nah, they don’t tell me much. Oh, but Izuku’s way better at quirk analysis, you should hear some of the things he comes up with about my quirk.”

“Maybe later, I have tests to grade.” Eraserhead, as usual, was the party pooper. Or, perhaps he was just the responsible one? He plopped his gift bag on the table and waited patiently for Izuku to open it. Nezu climbed up and sat on Menneki’s shoulder to watch.

It was an All Might silver-age hoodie that the boy immediately put on and a Rabbit hat. Rabbit as in his vigilante persona, not the animal. Though, to be honest, they looked similar except for the colors. Instead of going pale or panicing like Nezu was hoping for, Izuku put the hat on and waved his hands excitedly.

“Ohmygoshthisissocool! Vigilantes get merch? That’s so odd and cool! They don’t make the costumes though right? That could be dangerous… but I guess heroes have them so-”

Sam put a hand on his shoulder. “Izuku calm down and just thank them.”

“Thank you! All of you, thank you so much!”


	43. Rundown on a yakuza i made (and the menneki household)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Descriptions of a gang/ yakuza thing i made. They'll be causing trouble, but probably won't mess with the phantom patrol much 
> 
> I added a some stuff about the menneki's at the end. Thank you Solage for the picture of menneki (Find her at angelheartgamer on tumbler)!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The black star symbol is the thing on the girls chest minus the long staff part. Its just a seven sided star with a half circle (crescent moon) over the top.
> 
> It sorta looks like a marijuana plant tbh.

The Black Star Yakuza:

Title depends on how powerful your name is. Labels go as thus:

  * Gods (three at the moment) Create the plans, control the income, and keep the heroes at bay
    * Adrestia- her allies adore her, but her enemies have come to know her as “she who cannot be escaped". She was named for the goddess of equilibrium, the balance between good and bad, along with revolution and revolt. Laughs a lot. Doesn’t permit unnecessary violence.
    * Janus- gifted fighter, unknown quirk, has been working with her husband as a villain for nearly twenty years. “Interrogator” for the group. Age approximate in the early forties. Suspected sociopath.
    * Seshat- illegal support gear seller. Quirk unknown, but suspected to be an IQ enhancer. His symbol is found on all his support gear and was eventually put onto all the villain’s costumes.
  * Oni/yokai/demons (six at the moment) run the raids (sometimes assisted by Janus or Adrestia) such as robberies or destroying enemy villains...
    * Tsukumogami- weak telekinesis quirk. Can lift small objects as long as they have metal in them (more than one at a time). Uses small knives to fight. Black star symbol on the crown of his bald head
    * Obaka and Bakemono- girls suspected to be twins based on their quirks and mannerisms. Can shape shift their limbs into those of animals. Black star symbol on the tops of their wrists
    * Raijin and Fujin- always work together, possibly siblings. Both have elemental quirks (water and air respectively). Together they create storms or influence the weather to suit their needs. Raijin is known to pull the water out of peoples’ bodies, while Fuijin will cause them to suffocate. Black star symbols on the palm of their hand (right for Raijin and left for Fujin).
    * Merrow (“Sea Man”)- man with green tinted skin, webbed feet and hands, claws, and gills. Speed is difficult to match in the water. Suspected foreigner (possibly English). Is typically in charge of any raids taking place near water. Black star symbol on the heel of his left foot.
  * Imps (three at the moment) support or helping hands mostly. They just aren’t as powerful or well practiced as the others.
    * Kappa- amphibious lizard like man with no visible powers besides his mutation. His hair is purple, though. Black star symbol on his forehead. He has been identified as Shuichi Iguchi.
    * Pooka- woman with bright red hair. Quirk is being called “fear inducing” and is an emitter type. Gasses she creates can make you hallucinate and harm others around you or yourself. Black star symbol on her chest.
    * Tengu- tall, bat winged man, age estimated to be late teens judging from size. Can lift grown people out of the air. Black star symbol on his back between his wings.

o

kohi menneki

  * Birthday June 12 (14 years old)
  * Quirk- on paper it's immunity. Shes immune to quirks and can pass the immunity into others for a short time. She can also erase peoples powers for a short time.
  * Personality- actress like her mother. More like her father than you would think. Sounds intelligent and likes to analyse quirks (though she's not as good as izuku)
  * Hobbies- coffee shop business and the secrets run out of it after hours.
  * Appearance- small girl with short black hair and eyes. Unlike most people, she doesn't have a tell for when she uses her quirk. She dressed in bright, colorful clothing, but only when she wants people to look at her

Kesu Menneki (kohis mother)

  * 38
  * Quirk- same as Kohi's, but she focused more on training to erasure side so she's better with it.
  * Personality- actress. Her moods are very difficult to accurately read. A the fence to act cheery and bubbly around people, but her family knows she's more of a strict and tough love on it of person. If you're not family, it's safe to assume she hates your guts.
  * Hobbies- she had, like her husband and daughter, is a business person who takes pride in her work.
  * Appearance- long black hair, usually pulled back into a fight bun. She wears black suits most of the time with a white button up shirt underneath and black heals. I was gonna give her glasses but I scrapped it.

Iyashi Menneki (kohis father)

  * 37 years old.
  * Quirk- healing/ regeneration. It's basically regeneration that can passed through somebody else to heal them
  * Personality - quiet, gets lost in thought a lot, not quick to judge.
  * Hobbies- people watching, quirk study sometimes helps out at the cafe with finances and taking care of problems his daughter can't do legally.
  * Appearance - think "James potter minus the obnoxious habit of messing up his hair." He doesn't really care about fashion and won't dress nice unless business calls for it. Usually be just wears a solid colored t-shirt and jeans or sweatpants. He wears glasses and has a permanent tired look on his face that only breaks if a family member tells a funny joke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> isn't that picture of Kohi at the end just amazing?!?!


	44. The Red Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's some new villains about, and everybody wants to catch 'em.
> 
> The kids need to sleep first though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, the Black Star probably wont mess with the kids to much, but I think I'll make some chaos with them occasionally.

With the major dangers past, Eraserhead was back to trying to catch the Phantom Patrol, and make them slip up so he could stop them. A while back Nezu had mentioned he had gotten a glimpse of an unknown quirk. Danny had sensed the arrival of his parents. Most likely, he could do the same with others, possibly even the hero.

The kids had resumed their patrolling the same night they took down Ember. Only a few hours after Izuku’s birthday party. That was the most annoying part to Eraserhead. He’d seen them only a few hours prior. How could they manage school and night patrols? 

“Damn it,” the hero grumbled, chasing Rabbit over the rooftops. The hero was aware that the boy was acting as a distraction, but that the fact that this  _ kid _ was faster than a pro hero was both impressive and terrifying. Then, to make matters worse, the boy stumbled and fell over the edge of a building. 

The hero gasped and hurried to the edge, only to find the boy prying open a manhole cover and disappearing into the sewers.

“I’m not looking forward to seeing them in my class…” he muttered before returning to his patrol. His patrol wouldn’t last long, not like usual. He had something else to do. The Black Star had begun making a name for themselves again. They’d been around for about twenty years, but hadn’t been causing trouble like  _ this _ for years. 

The heroes were doing their best to keep the press from hearing about the return of the people calling themselves “Gods.” Janus and Seshat. Two people who, when Eraserhead was in UA, basically ran the crime world. Five years ago they popped back up with who was suspected to be their kid. A tiny little thing who wore all white and black. Adrestia. They must’ve inherited an IQ quirk or something.

Damn brat was a genius.

\----

“Menneki!” Izuku called excitedly as he entered the cafe the next day. It wasn’t busy, probably because it was around dinner time. The girl turned her attention to them, but kept her arms up where she was holding an ice pack to Hitoshi’s eye. They sat at a table in the middle of the cafe.

“Heya! You can sit down somewhere, I’ll get your drinks. The usual?”    
  
Al three nodded as they made their way over. The boys sat in the seats across the table while Sam took Menneki’s place tending to the injured boy. A black eye was all Hitoshi showed, but Izuku noticed the way he pulled down his sleeves nervously. Danny did the same whenever he had burns or bruises from villains or bullies.

  
“Are you alright?” Dnany asked.

“Yeah, I’m used to it. Judging from everything Kohi-chan said, you three are probably bullied to huh hhhiiss-” He leaned away as Menneki put a cold drink against the back of his neck.

“Here ya go,” she said, putting the iced coffee in front of him. She quickly passed the drinks around to the others. She hugged him from behind and pouted. “How’s the eye?”

“I’m fine. This is good by the way.” He took a long sip of it while the other kids watched in silence. 

“Are you two dating?” izuku blurted out suddenly. Menneki blinked in surprise before laughing.

“He doesn’t swing that way, dude.” Hitoshi choked on his drink. Nobody but Menneki seemed to notice how Izuku blushed. “You wanna cookie?” 

The boy nodded excitedly.

“So… you come here often?” Danny asked Hitoshi while the girl hurried off. He nodded.

“I work on weekends. We’re trying to change this place into a kind of cat cafe. It might take some time.” He pointed towards a door near the counter that was painted the same shade purple as his hair with a white paw print on it. “We’re moving the storage stuff from there to the apartment above this place. She owns the entire building, so whatever.”

“You’re helping move everything?”

“Every day after school, yeah. She pays me in food and coffee, along with some- ahem- under the counter money. I’m technically not on payroll since it’s illegal, so don’t tell anybody.”

The kids shrugged and nodded. They had dealt with much worse, so who cared.

The girl returned with a plate of All Might faced cookies so everybody could have one, then sat on the other side of Hitoshi. She watched as everybody nervously took the snack and took a bite. Her grin widened.

“You all knew it was a trap, yet you fell for it anyways,” she giggled.

“What did you do?” Hitoshi asked before taking another bite of his cookie. She clapped excitedly.

“I’m trying a change of frosting for the cookies! It doesn’t smear as much and is easier to make, what do you think?”   
  
“It’s amazing, Menneki-chan!” Izuku took a big bite of his cookie to prove it, then smiled.

“Thanks! These drinks and snacks are on the house. Toshi-kun, you can go nap in the cat room if you’d like.”

The boy nodded and made his way back. Izuku stared at the half-empty drink Hitoshi had left behind with confusion. Menneki giggled.

“He’s not actually napping, he’ll just play with our cat. By the way, you guys look really tired. You all okay?”   
  
She was mostly talking to Danny, but they all nodded.

“We’re looking for information on a new villain group calling themselves “Black Star.”” Izuku sighed and sat back in his chair. 

Menneki’s right eye twitched, but her smile stayed up. “Well, I think your main problem is that you don’t really know what you’re looking for.”   
  
The trio stared at her, silently waiting for an explanation. 

“First of all, the Black Star is actually a Yakuza. Secondly, they aren’t new, they’ve been around for nearly twenty years. Third, you can’t find them unless they want you too. Why are you looking for them, anyways?”

Danny’s mouth gaped as he tried to decide on an excuse. Eventually, he just shrugged. “I got bored.”

Menneki seemed amused by that. “If you really want to know about them, I heard they have a castle in Dagobah beech. Go there at midnight with your body covered in a black cloak, and follow the glowing rocks. I heard a rumor… that they take hit contracts, maybe you’ll be able to find them.”

Danny wondered if it was all a ruse as they made their way through the trash on foot. 

“Oh! Glowing rock!” Izuku pointed to a small, green rock on the ground. His face couldn’t be seen under the black hood (special thanks to Sam's wardrobe for the cloaks they were wearing) By glowing rock, she must’ve meant “rock with a painted glow in the dark smiley face on it.” whatever. They followed, making their way through the path way that wasn’t really a noticeable path. They had to crawl through things, climb over stuff, and Danny accidentally cut himself on a rusty pole.

They finally found the castle, which didn’t look like much, but knew it was the place due to the glow in the dark smiley face on the door. It was a fridge door, and this particular pile of trash seemed especially tightly packed. They carefully opened the door and stepped inside, flinching at the bells on the door. It… wasn’t what he expected.

First of all, here was lots of red. Red blankets were taped to the walls, red couches lined the walls to the left and right. Red pillows and blankets sat on the back of the couches. On the far wall was Menneki, typing away at her computer.

“Hi guys!” Menneki said, spinning around in her chair to face them. “Sorry for lying, but you really need to rest. Go to sleep, relax, no need to worry about somebody bothering you.”   
  
They looked around, taking in the christmas light hanging from the ceiling and plugging into an outlet near her computer.    
  
The kids hesitated to enter, but a harsh “move your asses” startled them into moving. Hitoshi squeezed past them, taking off his cloak and hanging it up. He was wearing black pjs underneath, and carried a bag that had what they assumed to be clothes for the next day. He also had a large, fluffy white cat that was trying to wriggle out of his hold.

“We don’t have clothes,” Sam argued, only to have Menneki throw a bag at them. It was heavy, and filled with light weight clothing. 

“There’s a room here, you can use it if you want privacy, then a bedroom over there.” Menneki moved a blanket to show a hole in the wall on one side of her desk, then pointed to the other side. Danny wondered how many rooms were hidden behind the blankets on the walls.

Sam shrugged and fished a dark purple gown from the bag and went into the bedroom. Hitoshi flopped down on the couch closest to the desk and curled up in some blankets. Danny and Izuku found some clothes then went into the bathroom. They found that it was large, but didn’t have running water besides the toilets. The stalls were large enough though, and were very messily made but painted baby blue.

Menneki continued typing away long after the others had fallen asleep.


	45. Time skip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to go forward a bit in time. Its about August 1st now. 7 months until the UA entrance exams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jonny 13 is now Fuko 13 and he is 100% Japanese. Kitty is also Japanese, but she likes the name Kitty, thats why she has it.

“Man, it’s been almost a month and since that whole Ember thing and it’s just getting more and more boring!” Danny groaned, leaning back in his seat. The cafe was doing well, especially with how she’d gotten permission from both her parents and the local animal shelter to be a foster some of the cats. The best part was probably the fact that all the animals were up for adoption, and a few had been given to loving homes. 

Eraserhead paused as he walked past the trio and raised an eyebrow. “You kids plotting anything yet?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Danny said, then sipped at his iced chocolate drink. The hero just grunted and went to order. It was late, nearly six, and the man was carrying a shoulder bag that looked suspiciously like it was full of paperwork.

“I _bet he’s a crazy cat person_,” Sam snickered. Sure enough, once his drink was ordered and he’d paid the small fee, Menneki waves towards the purple door they knew to be the entrance to the cat area. Danny tried to keep from laughing as the hero disappeared inside. 

“_Isn’t Hitoshi napping in there_?” Izuku asked, munching a cookie. He looked exhausted, sweaty, and slightly drugged up. He’d drank a lot of coffee right after his training, and it was starting to show in the way his legs hopped and his fingers tapped. 

“_Yeah, he has his own little couch in there. I should check on him…_” Menneki disappeared inside with a hot, black coffee and an iced one. 

“So, the villain, you said you found a new one, right?” Danny said, lowering his voice a little. Izuku nodded before pulling out his tablet. He already had some stuff up in different tabs, plus a document of information he’d noticed himself. 

“His name is Fuko, but most call him 13. As in, the unlucky number 13. His shadow is sentient. It can transfer through shadows and phase through people, but can also interact with objects as a solid.”

Danny groaned. “Oh great. Let me guess, well known robber?”

“Uh, no, he’s not very well known. 13 and his girlfriend, *Kitty, mostly live the lifestyle of ‘steal to survive’. They are both eighteen, and travel by using a motorcycle. The girlfriend, *Kitty, can force her… essence? into clothing and, when somebody else puts everything on, she can take full control of their body until the clothing is removed again.”

“So, what are they doing?” Sam asked, forgetting her drink for the time being.

“They don’t really do much besides creating chaos. Accidently, too. Kitty has sea green hair and red eyes. 13 has blond hair and green eyes. Uhhh.. high school dropouts, 13 has a black X.”

A black X was a term used for people who had been expelled from a hero school. Fuko had, apparently, gone to Ketsubutsu High with Kitty, when he was expelled she dropped out to run away with him. Kitty had an older sister who was a hero, but there was bad blood between the siblings. 

“So, what do we do?” Danny read through the notes Izuku had made on the quirks, most of which were things he noticed from watching security footage of 13 stealing food or things for the bike. The other two kids just stared at him with slight smiles.

“It’s up to you, you’re the leader,” Sam replied.

“What? Wait why? How did that happen?!”

“Did you really not know?” A voice said, startling them all. Menneki giggled when the others startled at her sudden appearance. “I was going to see if you wanted anything else.”

“Oh, no thanks. Hey, will you be going to the castle tonight?” Izuku asked. She nodded. 

“You know I go there every night. If you show up by midnight you can stay, but the door locks after that.”

The kids smiled. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kitty's older sister I was talking about is actually Joke.


	46. hitoshi shinso

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a short little thing. takes place right after the problem with ember but I forgot to post it before time skip...
> 
> sorry

Hitoshi Shinso has problems. He has serious problems, small problems, problems he doesn’t really mind dealing with, and problems he wishes would just kill him already.

His main problem, at the moment, would be the fact that Tsukauchi and Eraserhead (who, by the way, was his favorite hero) were interrogating him under the assumption that he and Menneki were somehow undercover villains. They hadn’t said that allowed, of course, but he knew it’s what they were thinking.

“Oh my gosh just say it!” He snapped. The detective faltered with what he was writing, while Eraserhead just narrowed his eyes. “I know what you’re thinking, and I don’t care! Just say it, you think I’m a villain. And while I’m used to that, and I know you probably will never trust me, I won’t let you think that about Kohi-chan!”

“Can you tell us where you got those bruises?” Eraserhead asked suddenly. It was random, but the way the boy paled and looked away was enough to show the hero something was wrong. “You’re in foster care aren’t you? And you seem to spend an awful lot of time in that coffee shop."

Hitoshi’s breath sounds shaky. “I spend a lot of time in that shop… because it means I’m guaranteed a meal and a warm bed to sleep in.” 

The hero’s eye twitches as he reminds himself not to react. The boy who, up until a few seconds ago, was being sarcastic and a pain in the ass now stared down at his hands folded up on the table. He hid his emotions well, but the bruises dotting his skin told it was through practice. 

A glance at the detectives notes showed that what the boy had said was true.

“Have your foster parents ever… hurt you?”

Hitoshi raises his head to stare deep into the hero’s. “Did yours?”


	47. Fuko 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fuko needs to find Kitty a new body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of characters in my story can speak at least a little english apparently. Or, at least, they know how to curse.

Fuko stares at the leather jacket, pink scarf, and ring he was holding. His eyes were red from crying. It was his fault, obviously, but he couldn’t think about it to much. 

_ “Get somebody to put these on… it’s your fault this body is messed up anyways.” _

She poured herself into the items to escape her own dying body. She died, but not really. She couldn’t see or hear him. 

“It’ll be okay, I’ll find a perfect body…” he sniffled, glad that she couldn’t see him crying like a baby. There was a hole in the back of the jacket were she’d been stabbed, but he knew there wasn’t anything he could do beside sew it up a little. To bad he didn’t know how. 

He walked into a cafe and went up to the counter. The girl there was bright and cheerful looking, but much to young. Kitty would kill him if he gave her a child’s body. 

“How may I help you?” The girl asked, smiling. How old was she? Fourteen? She was too tiny to be working at a place like this. It’s a Sunday, sure, but she should be studying or playing with other people her age. 

“Uh, a small black coffee and, um, do you know where I can get this jacket patched up?” he held up the jacket and watched her smile fade. He was glad there wasn’t any blood on it, but he had a feeling she could tell what it was caused by.

“No, but I could maybe help you out with it.”    
  
Fuko smiled a little and nodded excitedly. Maybe he  _ should _ pick this kid, if the excitement passed to Kitty when everything happened, then things could get more interesting on their trips.

The girl made him some coffee then ran upstairs to grab some sewing stuff. She returned with a small box full of needles, patches, thread, and what looked like glue. He watched carefully as she worked to patch up the tear. It was almost perfectly centered between where the shoulder blades should be, which was good because it could be hidden by the scarf. 

It took nearly half an hour for her to patch the slice, which would be impressive to anybody except Fuko. He watched the entire time while internally panicking that this could end badly. The girl was nice enough, and answered any questions he asked.

“So, you live around here?”   
  
“Nope.”

“You still go to school, right? Shouldn’t you be studying or something.”

“Yes to both questions.” she didn’t take her eyes off the jacket she was finishing up fixing.

“What profession are going into?” he hoped she didn’t say hero.

“Hmm… I’m planning to run this coffee shop until I die.”   
  
“Not a hero then? Most kids these days only want to be a famous hero.” He watched as she smirked. She finally finished and passed the jacket over to him.

“Yeah, well, I’m to selfish to be a hero. Have a good day, 13. Don’t pick any kids to be Kitty’s new meatsuit.” 

Fuko startled and watched as the girl left through a purple door with a cat paw painted on it.

*”...the fuck?”   
  


He had to admit, she did a good job fixing the jacket.

\----

The thing about August is that it’s one of those wild months that doesn’t quite know what it wants to be yet. It’s usually pretty predictable, but, today, a snow storm was brewing and people were screaming about the end of days. 

The sky above the bank swirled into clouds that filled the air with thunder and freezing temperatures. People took shelter, kids ran to hide behind their parents. Everybody was hiding except for two people standing in the middle of the storm. 

The two people dressed in cloaks and white demon masks. The taller one dressed in light blues and sea greens, the shorter one in sunset colors. They were on the roof of the bank, arms up as they caused the freak storm to create chaos. Jazz could see a faint black symbol on the palms of their hands, but thought maybe she was imagining it. She hid behind a car, shivering and trying her best to not let the wind throw her or suck her into the air.

“Hey!” Somebody called. It was faint, barely audible over the sound of the wind and his motorcycle. He drove over, pulled the girl onto his bike, and hurried off. A shadow seemed to wrap itself around them, creating a barrier so the wind couldn’t push them over.

“You sa-saved my life!” Jazz stuttered as she shivered. He stopped the motorcycle a few blocks from the storm. 

“You’re cold, huh?” He fished a red leather jacket from one of the bags on the back of the bike and helped the girl put it on. She smiled up at him. 

“Oh, uh, thanks. My name’s Jazz Fenton by the way, what about you?”   
  
The boy smiled and took her hands. “Fuko.”

He dipped his head and kissed the top of her hands gently. The girl giggled.

_ “Oh gosh he’s cute- handsome!- and adorable. Even gentlemanly. Ohmygosh-” _ Jazz cursed at herself for her train of thought. She didn’t have time to be thinking about a relationship when she had that internship with Nezu for goodness sake.  _ “Get it together, Jazz!” _

“Would you like a ride home?”   
  
“Yes!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh. I just wanted to clarify that Kitty was stabbed and her originally body was dying, thats why she told Fuko to get her a new one.


	48. paying customer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fuko makes a move... one he probably shouldn't have made.

Jazz was known for not rushing into things. She’s already looking at colleges and had a plan for her future all the way up to her mid-forties. But now, sitting on the white couch in her home, her mind couldn’t wonder to the future. She was living in the here and now, almost as if she wasn’t herself.

She leans forward for a kiss with Fuko, only to be interrupted when Danny slams the front door open and glares at the boy.

Danny couldn’t do anything without giving himself away, so he snuck around the corner to the kitchen and eavesdropped. 

“So, do you have anywhere more… private? Maybe… a basement?” Fuko asked.

“Oh, yes we do actually!” Jazz pulled the boy towards the stairs, leaving a furious Danny to glare at the wall while he tried to think of what to do.

Down in the basement there was a short pause for the two teens to stare into each other's eyes. Fuko was a good actor, while Jazz…

*”JASSMINE FENTON YOU KNOW YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL DOWN HERE!” Jack’s voice boomed down the stairs and echoed through the lab as he hurried down to the kids. Danny arrived first, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall at the entrance.

*”You know better!” Yurei said, entering at the same time as Jack. They both had a battle ready stance as they glared at Fuko.”

“Hey lay off! We weren’t doing’ nothing pops.” Jack’s anger immediately turned to a frown while he tried to decipher what the boy had said. 

*”He said they weren’t doing anything and I, for one, don’t believe him,” Danny translated quickly. “And his name isn’t pops!”

“Yeah, whatever. This place is getting a little too cramped for my style anyways.” Fuko stuck his hands into his long dark grey coat and made his way out. 

“I’ll walk you out Fuko.” She turned to Danny before chasing after her “boyfriend”. “And could _you_ be anymore like _them?_” Danny shivers as he realized he did, in fact, sound like his parents. Instead of being angry, though, Danny just sighed and made his way upstairs. He sat at his computer and started a video chat with Sam and Izuku. 

“Hey, big problem you guys, 13 has decided my sister is a good replacement for his girlfriend.”

“Oh, man, that’s… weird… Um, hey, let’s connect Kohi and Hitoshi, maybe they can help,” Izuku said. He was obviously doing all this on his tablet because the picture was shaky and he looked to be walking home from Dagobah beach. He must’ve just finished training. A few seconds later, Menneki’s bright smile could be seen in one of the corners of their screens. She was in the coffee shop still since it was only about 7 at night. 

“Heya guys! What’s up? Oh, Hitoshi come here!” She waved to somebody, probably Hitoshi, to come over and the boy appeared behind her a few seconds later.

"Fuko, 13, is targeting my sister." 

Menneki's smile didn't falter, but her eye twitched. "Is he now…? Is there something we can do to help?"

"You seem to know a lot about gangs and stuff, is there a chance he works with one?" Izuku asked. He was nearing his apartment now. Menneki just gave a sad smile and shook her head. 

"Sorry, I don't think he's in any villain group that I know of." Menneki sighed. Hitoshi looked up from the video as somebody entered the shop. The boy paled.

“Hello we’re c-closing soon so-”

“I thought the sign said closing was at 8?” Danny recognized the voice off camera as that of Fuko. Menneki’s smile didn’t waver, but she did tell Hitoshi to go to the back room and feed their cat. 

“By guys, come by later alright?” By that, she meant “get your asses over here.” She shut down the computer, and the kids hurried to get over there. Izuku told his mom he forgot something, Sam went through her window, and Danny walked out the front door without telling his parents a word. 

Izuku sent a text to Eraserhead via a handmade Fenton Phone project that he’d finished. 

** _PHANTOMS: _ ** _ SOS Fuko 13 is in the Café _

** _Eraserhead:_ ** _ Is everybody safe? _

** _PHANTOMS:_ ** _ don’t know, Menneki was in a video chat with us when he entered the café. She sent Hitoshi to the cat room and told us she’d see us later. Your patrol takes you near there, can you help? _

About this time the trio had met up and Danny, in his Phantom form, grabbed his two friends and shot them into the air.

** _Eraserhead:_ ** _ I’m across the street from the shop. I can see them, there doesn’t appear to be any hostility._

_ Hitoshi just ran out the back door with a cat. _

_ Fuko ordered a black coffee. _

** _PHANTOMS:_ ** _ does Menneki look uncomfortable? _

There was a long silence before the hero replied.

** _Eraserhead:_ ** _ Menneki just flipped me off. _

Fuko downed a black coffee before jumping on his motorcycle and racing off. Sam set up a link between them, Menneki, and the hero as soon as she was within range. The kids landed next to the hero on a fire escape in an alley across the street from the shop. Menneki looked up from where she was cleaning a table and smiled at them.

_ “Who am I to refuse a paying customer?” _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Menneki doesn't like unnecessary violence, and won't engage in a battle or start one without good reasoning.


	49. something that shouldn't be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fuko attempts to take Jazz's body. Danny isn't having it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, you know that thing were Japan writes their name differently than us? yeah, I never really figured out the first names of most of the people in BNHA...

Danny walked home slowly, shuffling his shoes as he went. He stiffened as his danger sense went off and looked up just in time to see Kuko’s motorcycle go past… with Jazz’s familiar red hair in the backseat.

“Jazz!” He cried._ “Jazz!” _

_ “What about her?” _ Sam asked. They’d agreed to keep the chat up until everybody was out of distance.

_ “Fuko has my sister on his bike! _ ”

Danny changed form as he ran, then lept up to fly after them. Unluckily for everybody, that also meant he was out of Sam’s radius within seconds. However, Eraserhead caught a glimpse of the familiar bike and the boy chasing and immediately took chase.

“Phantom! What’s going on?!” Eraserhead yelled, trying to keep up. Danny noticed, slowly for a second to grab the hero’s hand, then took off again with him in his grasp.

“Fuko 13, don’t you know anything about him?!” The hero grit his teeth. He really to work on learning more about these supervillains these kids met on basically a daily basis.

“No, other than he has a sentient shadow.”

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. 

Danny had to move quickly to dodge as a black blob with sharp teeth and green eyes attack them. Eraserhead tried to throw his scarf to tie it up but the shadows just split to let it pass through it. The thing twisted around them before enveloping them completely. 

Danny felt weightless… drifting. He was vaguely aware that he couldn’t breath, but there was no burn of his lungs or panicing. He wanted to sleep so badly… then a voice echoed through the creature.

_ “Shadow no! If they die Adrestia would destroy us both!” _

Danny’s eyes shot open as the void faltered and shot a beam of energy into the walls that were confining them. Eraserhead clung to his leg, somehow having been awake the entire time. Did it not affect him?

The shadow screeched and retreated a short distance away, glaring at the boy and shivering while he tried to recover from the sudden attack.

“So you don’t like light, huh?” Danny looked around before his eyes finally landed on the cafe. Somehow he’d already made it all the way back to the place. “So be it.” He darted down towards the store, chased by the shadow. He entered the store and waited until the monster was about to attack before-

“Gotcha!” Menneki flicked on the lights, grinning as the creature shrieked and slowly disappeared in the light. After a moment of catching his breath, Danny noticed there were lamps varying in size and shape throughout the room. She shrugged. “I saw Fuko go past and the shadow attacking you so I brought down all these lights in case you came through.”

“Um, thanks. Eraserhead, I think it’d be best if you stay here while I go get 13 and my s- Jasmine.”

The hero nodded and a second later the boy had vanished from their sight. The hero glanced over at the girl who was already starting to take the lamps back upstairs. “Would you like some help?”

\-------

“S-so I know this is kinda sudden, but… what do you say?” Fuko pulled out a ring. It was gold, with a large green stone that looked like an emerald. Jazz blushed.

“Oh my gosh you wanna go steady? That’s so old school…” She smiled as she said it, staring at the ring. Danny watched from a tree branch above them.

_ “I’ve gotta do something… oh shiiiiiiit-” _ he nearly laughed as he got an idea. He closed his eyes, jumped out of the tree, and transformed before falling to the ground with a loud crash. “Hiya, not interrupting anything am I?” 

Jazz and Fuko stood up with completely different expressions. Jazz was furious, while the villain had a look of confusion and concern for the boy on the ground. He looked like he was about to ask if he was alright when Jazz marched over and pulled him up by the collar of his shirt.

*“Were you spying on us? You brat!”

*”Why are we speaking English?”

*”Because I don’t want my boyfriend to know what I’m saying! Danny, I don’t care if you’re concerned, or frustrated, or extremely overprotective, you have no right to spy on me! Now GET LOST!” 

“No I won’t! Come on Jazz, does this seem right to you?” Danny gripped her shoulders, accidently pulling the jacket off slightly. Her mouth gaped open and she stared into space like she couldn’t see him. Fuko sneered when he noticed, and grabbed Danny’s collar. 

‘You know what punk?! We’ve had just about enough of you.” The coat and scarf slid off of Jazz just as Danny braced himself for the villain to punch him.

“Hey! Hands off the little brother!”

“Aw whatever.” He threw Danny into a tree. “Then we do this the hard way. Shadow, tree!”

The shadow raised from the ground around Fuko’s feet and growled before flying into the tree. It shredded it from the inside out, leaving it to tumble onto the boy.

“Danny!” Jazz screamed as Fuko pulled her out of the way of the falling tree. Fuko grabbed her hand and forced the ring onto her finger, grinning even while she fought him. She couldn’t even fight when the shadow picked the coat and scarf up off the ground and put it back on her. 

“Yes! Kitty, baby, can you hear me?” Fuko shook the girl’s shoulders, the girl’s hair slowly began turning green. 

“Fuko?” the voice was distorted, like there were two people speaking at once.

Something past through them, flying over the cliff with the ring in his hands. The green began reversing until there was only a couple of streaks left. Danny glared at Fuko. “I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I _do_ know it has something to do with _this!_” It was only then that Danny noticed Fuko was wearing a similar ring on his left ring finger, only with a red stone instead. 

Danny darted into the sky, shadow hot on his tail… literally. Danny had a tail right now. He didn’t have his phone, but he twisted, shooting beam after beam into the air hoping that Menneki would see it. “Please please please-”

He got what he prayed for as he flew into the cafe and saw her hastily plugging lamps back into a surge protector while stood by the door, ready to fight or swing it open in a moments notice. The shadow flew in, but didn’t pause before immediately throwing the girl into a table.

“You’re paying for the damage!” She yelled at the shadow, jumping up before it could claw her throat. Eraserhead dove for the switch, flicking it on just as the monster disappeared into the floor. With the lights up, the three of them huddles in a circle in the middle of the room, waiting and watching to see where the next attack would be. Growling from the direction of the bar caught the hero’s attention. 

"It's in the bar," the hero warned.

“Danny, give me the ring,” Menneki whispered into his ear. He nodded and handed it over to her. Eraserhead didn't even seen to notice while he crouched and readied himself for a possible sneak attack.

“Make sure he doesn’t get it,” he said before flying through a wall. the hero looked at Menneki, who shrugged. The shadow could be seen lurking just outside the light. Outside the windows, from behind the cracked door of a pantry. But while they readied themselves for when the shadow figured out how to cause a power outage, Danny busied himself with grabbing his sister. He snuck up on them, pulled the coat and scarf off her, then pulled her over the cliff to hover out of the villain’s reach.

*”Fuck!” Fuko yelled, glaring at the boy. “You just don’t know when to give up, do you?! Fine! I’m going to get my Kitty back, no matter what I have to do! I’ll join the Black Star! I’ll rob banks! I’ll fucking destroy this city if it means I can get my Kitty back!”

Danny saw shadow return with the ring in hand and couldn’t help but think he’d made an even worse villain through this whole ordeal.

He returned to the cafe with an unconscious Jazz in his arms. Menneki had a claw mark along her right arm from her wrist to her shoulder and was being cared for by the ambulance. She smiled at him still, and waved as he landed on the ground nearby. The paramedics and police, along with Kumai Woods and another hero Danny didn't recognize, arrived right around the time a power outage occurred. Eraserhead was uninjured and looked annoyed by the fact.

For a few days things seemed to go by smoothly. There was no sign of Fuko wanting revenge, but there is something worse.

A bank is robbed of everything inside. A storm brews around it, keeping police and heroes from entering, while inside, a shadow destroys the vaults and assists in tying up the civilians.

Fuko Tokoyami, age 19, appears with a healthy, green haired woman at his hip and a Black Star symbol carefully embroidered onto the back of their jackets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BHAHhahahHHAhHahAaAAhA


	50. hitoshi's new home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a day in the life of hitoshi shinso… for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, I really wanted to write about hitoshi.

Hitoshi stared across the table at Eraserhead- _“Aizawa”_ he reminded himself- and picked at his food. It was the first night, first day. Eraserhead was a foster parent with his husband, but would mostly work with troubled or kids with dangerous powers. Hitoshi was, apparently, labeled as both on paper. The boy had yet to meet this mysterious husband who was some hero out on duty. 

“That’s really all you own?” Eraserhe-_ Aizawa _ asked finally. Hitoshi startled, but nodded. His backpack, which was sitting on his bed in the children's room, held everything he owned. Clothes, toothbrush and toothpaste, a brush, and a diary and purple pen. He noticed with a ping of sadness that everything in the bag had been given to him by Menneki. The purple hoodie he was wearing was also a gift, one that they had styled the door in the cafe after. The big white paw print on his chest made his smile when he looked at it.

His big white cat, whose name was Viking thanks to Menneki’s insistance, was welcomed into the house with open arms. It made him wish he was a cat, maybe people would love him.

“I’m guessing you know sign language?” Aizawa asked, staring at the boy’s face to see how he’d react. It was obvious it wasn’t well, because the kid’s face falls even more and hero immediately regrets asking.

_ “You want me to sign while I’m living here?” _ He asked through sign language. Any hope in his eyes was gone, replaced by a dead, resigned look. 

“No, it’s fine. I was asking because my husband doesn’t have the best hearing.” It’s somewhat true, but only after days when he uses his quirk to much and his ears are left ringing. But, then, on days like that he’s usually more or less mute as well.

Hitoshi sighs in relief before shoving some food in his mouth. Eraserhead continued studying the boy’s face, hoping he could see triggers rather than having to ask. The faint, nearly invisible indent on his cheeks and on his chin showed the scars from wearing a muzzle for to long. The hero stares at the food on his plate, unable to eat while he struggled to keep himself from tracking down who’d done that to the boy right then and there. 

“Dammit I’ve already done something wrong, haven’t I…” Hitoshi mutters, noticing the way the hero wouldn’t look at him anymore. The boy tossed down his silverware. “I’ll see myself to my room.” “What?” Hitoshi didn’t answer, instead standing up and making his way to his room. His pulled his hood up over his face as he went. 

“Wait-” Aizawa began as he stood, but he was either to quiet or Hitoshi didn’t care. The bedroom door closed, and the teen locked himself in his room. “-you didn’t do anything wrong.”

Htoshi had already locked himself in the bathroom connected to his room. He hid in the bathtub, a habit he’d started when he was five. He was waiting for somebody to yell at him from the other side or break down the door to get him. He knew the hero wouldn’t do it… he was positive Aizawa was a better person than his previous homes…

But old habits die hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, weird question! So, I read a fanfic recently and they made an "imprint theory" where when a quirk is passed to somebody else remnants of the previous holder are passed on with the quirk. That being said... If each holder of One for All had a different sexuality... Then perhaps it wouldn't be to weird to say that Izuku will be bisexual once he gets it? 
> 
> This'll be fun.


	51. A Stain in the Street

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lol.
> 
> There's an asshole in this chapter and it's not the villain.

The villain was a beast in a fight, and the Phantom Patrol learned that the hard way. 

The tall, crazy looking man had cornered a new hero, and the kids had rushed in to save her. This villain, or vigilante, as Izuku called him, wore a torn scarf and a bandana around his neck and forehead, along with a mask over his eyes to hide his identity. However, he’d already given a name. Stain.

“I’ve heard of you! You’re that new Hero Killer, aren’t you!” Danny cried out as a knife suddenly flew into his shoulder.

“And you, the new vigilante with the powers of a ghost… I thought you’d be better at dodging.” The voice was gravelly and cold. In a flash, the villain was standing in front of him, pulling the knife out and licking it.

“And I thought you’d be tougher looking,” Danny spat. He slid to the ground as his body stopped obeying him. Paralysis. 

_“Danny hold on! I’m calling for help!"_ Izuku’s voice was panicky as he hurried to call for help. They were near the cafe, as usual. They always liked patrolling nearby because they knew Menneki would give them a free coffee around 9. It was 9 now, actually, Danny suddenly felt bad about making her wait or worry.

“You fight without getting anything in return. Unlike this one.” Stain returned to the fallen hero. She was breathing heavily now, and looked on the verge of tears. 

“What’s your name,” Danny blurted out as Stain neared the woman. She started crying.

“The Shield and Spear Heroin, Paradox.” 

Stain faltered for a moment, staring at the woman sitting against the wall as she cried. 

“How old are you,” Danny asked before the villain could shake himself out of it.

“I’m 18, I graduated from UA early.”

“Regardless of your age you are a fake hero. You help people only to help yourself.” Stain put a sword to her throat, ignoring the way her breath hitched. Danny screamed at him then squeezed his eyes shut.

“Stop!” A voice echoed through the alleyway. Somehow the small, brightly dressed girl in a pink apron was able to make the villain pause. Menneki swallowed as she stared at Stain. “Who are you to decide who lives and dies?!”

“They are all fake! Fake heroes! They only want the money and fame from taking down the villains! Who are you to say that isn’t true?”

“Do you even know this girl?! You know nothing about her! What’s her real name? What’s her favorite color? What was her motivation to be a hero? You can’t answer, can you?! What right do you have to hurt somebody if you don’t know anything about them?”

Once again, Danny was surprised to see that Menneki had hit a mark and Stain moved his sword away from the hero’s throat. 

“What need have I to watch somebody if I already know they act for selfish reasons?” He asked it honestly, as if the child shaking in fear and anger knew the secrets of the world. 

“You don’t know their reasons unless you’ve met them. I met a man who became a hero purely because he knew his quirk could help make Tokyo a better place. He’s kind, and smart, and funny-” she began shaking worse as Stain started towards her. “-he wanted to help people, and he is as a hero.”

“Who is he?”

“H-his name is Ingenium, and he’s a great man.” The girl immediately regretted saying his name, what if the villain went after him instead?

“Any others?”

“Wh-what?”

“You highly of Ingenium, so who should I attack and avoid?” Stain knelt a foot from her, looking up into her eyes. His smile was gone, replaced by a contemplative frown. She shook, but slowly pulled a small notepad and pen from her apron and began writing furiously. 

“Here, a list of heroes who I know are good, along with a list of people I don’t like.”

The good hero list was long, while, if Danny could see right, the bad hero list had only one name.

The villain took the paper and left the alleyway. A collective sigh escaped from everybody in the alley, along with Sam and Izuku in the group chat. They’d been in a building across the street, shooting paintballs that completely missed Stain throughout the fight. 

Eraserhead landed in the alleyway just as the paralysis wore off. He immediately started fussing over Danny while Menneki helped Paradox with the injury. With the fabric around the cut on her shoulder was out of the way, they could see the injury wasn’t as bad as they thought.

Another minute and an ambulance was there. Izuku was wracking his brain trying to figure out why and how Eraserhead got there before the ambulance and police. With the young heroin off to the hospital, Eraserhead and the kids all headed to the cafe to wind down.

“Hey, coffee?” She asked everybody. A chorus of “yes”s rang out before the kids remembered that they were wearing masks. Eraserhead smirked, then sighed when they retracted their answer.

“Black, Eraserhead?” She asked as she bustled around getting stuff ready. The kids and hero sat at the table in the middle of the cafe, the only one that didn’t have the seats up. 

“Yes, thank you.” 

The drink was finished and placed in front of the hero just as Tsukauchi walked in. He took off his hat as he entered, looking around before sitting beside Eraserhead. 

“I was told you ran into the Hero Killer?” 

“Yes,” Phantom answered. Menneki hovered for a moment, looking extremely uncomfortable, before sitting in the only seat left, the one on the other side of Eraserhead. 

“Can you tell me what happened?” Tsukauchi readied his clipboard. The boy nodded. 

“We always patrol near this cafe now because this girl-” he pointed to Menneki “-lets us in even if it’s really late. We get coffee here around 9 every night.”

Tsukauchi leaned forward to look at the girl. She blushed. “Yes, he’s telling the truth. I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that though, we’ve already found that your quirk doesn’t work on me.”

“We’ll be taking confiscating your security footage when we leave tonight,” the detective said. Danny stiffened, but Menneki just giggled. 

“My apologies, sir, but this cafe has never had security cameras.”

Everybody was surprised, but quickly shook it off as it being a product of her strangeness. 

“Continue,” the hero said, leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed. He watched Danny closely, especially after he noticed Rabbit and Cat were both holding onto his arm.

“We heard a scream and went toward it. I saw Stain about to kill that girl and jumped in to stop him.” 

“You jumped into a fight with somebody you knew to be a serial killer?” The hero scowled.

“Well, I didn't know until after I’d already jumped into the fight and Izuku told me.” Tsukauchi face palmed. His paper with full of check marks, showing that there hadn’t been a single lie told so far. “The fight only lasted about a minute or so since he’s _waaaay_ more experienced than me.”

“Why was Menneki there?” Eraserhead glanced to the girl who had, for some reason, sat her knees in her chair and was currently brushing his hair. He didn’t seem annoyed with it, but he also wasn’t very happy. Danny was more confused by when or how she’d gotten a hair brush.

“Not sure, she said on our way back that she heard a scream and we hadn’t come for coffee so she got worried.”

Everybody looked to her and she nodded before going back to brushing his hair. 

“When she arrived he’d already paralyzed me and was about to kill Paradox. She yelled at him to stop and he did. I think he was just surprised. Then she started talking about him not being allowed to judge people he’d never met. It was… scary how he listened to her. Anyways, she gave him a list of heroes she did and didn’t like and he left.”

They looked to the girl again. She stopped what she was doing to look around at them. “What?”

“Who was on your good list?” Tsukauchi asked. She shrugged.

“Um… Midnight, Eraserhead, Kumai Woods, Nezu, Ingenium, Vlad King, Catamount, the Pussy Cats… that’s all.”

“And your bad list?”

Her lips twitched towards a smile. “There was only one name, and it was fake because I figured he would be distracted looking for it.”

Izuku choked trying not to laugh.

“Thank you,” the detective said as he tucked his pen away and stood up with Eraserhead. Menneki did the same, walking out of view easily since nobody was paying attention to her. “One more thing-”

Eraserhead flared his quirk up to try and stop the kids from slipping through the floor, but the lights suddenly went off. They went back on a second later. The trio were gone.

“Sorry hero, I really don’t know what happened.” Menneki’s hand was still on the light switch, but her face was that of an experienced actress. She looked on the verge of tears before suddenly breaking out in a bright smile. “Maybe you’ll be able to catch them next time?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you'd like more original villains please! I cant read minds you know!
> 
> I wish I could though...


	52. The cause of the storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A storm brews above and within the hero society.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ive decided to right about the Black Star for now since I was getting board of just messing with the danny phantom original show characters

_ Another storm brewed over a van as it raced down the street. It was being chased by a hero. _

_ Ingenium. _

_ He was doing well, he thought. He was keeping up despite the storm. However, there was a problem with what was happening. It was a trap… it must’ve been a trap, why else would he have suddenly hit a patch of slippering substance. He yelped as his feet came out from under him and he slid under a railing of the bridge. _

_ He looked at the water far below and wondered what he could do to break his fall, only for something to grab his legs and slow his fall. A look up showed it was a young, tall person with bat- like wings. He wore black leather and had a mask on that could only be compared to that of the old comic book character Batman. _

_ The problem was that, one look at the boy’s back, showed that he was the villain Tengu.  _

_ “Black Star… why are you saving me if you were the one to throw me off the bridge?” Ingenium immediately jumped up to his feet when the villain dropped him on the ground of the bridge near where he’d fallen off. The van was nowhere to be seen, but a small person sat on the railing. She wore a white blindfold and had thick black hair slicked back. When she smiled, Ingenium shivered at the crookedness of it. Her white sweatshirt had the Black Star symbol on the chest and was splattered with red. He knew it was probably paint, since it was dry and still bright red. _

_ “We wanted you to get distracted so we could escape, that’s all.” She stood up on the railing and used it to climb onto Tengu’s back with ease. “We don’t kill unless it’s necessary, so be careful, Ingenium. I like you, you’re interesting. Say, let’s be friends, huh? I’ll send you stuff sometimes.” _

_ Ingenium was afraid to move with the slippery substance under his feet, so he just watched as they jumped off the bridge and disappeared from view. _

Ingenium had been replaying the memory in his head over and over for the past few days since it occurred. He felt a little bad, since he was out with his friends for breakfast and was only thinking about work. His little brother, Tenya, was there as well, and Eraserhead had brought a kid he was fostering. Hitoshi Shinso. Midnight (Nemuri Kayama) and Present Mic (Hizashi Yamada) was there too, chatting where the other two adults remained silent.

“What’s up with you, you’re not usually this quiet,” Eraserhead, or Aizawa, nudged him. In response Ingenium, or Tensei, looked toward the purple haired kid walking at his side.

“What’s up with you, I’ve never seen you bring one of your kids with you to one of these before.”   
  
Aizawa shot him a glare. “I’ll be honest, the Hero Killer’s attack last night made me a bit paranoid.”   
  


“Oh yeah, I heard about that. What happened anyways?” Tenya asked. He chopped his hand like a robot, earning an amused and confused look from Hitoshi. When nobody answered, Hitoshi grinned impishly.

“My friend convinced the Hero Killer to get to know his villains before he attacks them. She used Ingenium here as her main example of not being able to judge somebody without getting to know them first. She’s a fan of yours, I guess.”

Ingenium looked surprised, then flattered. “She really said that about me? What a great kid.”   
  
Aizawa grumbled something into his scarf. “Yeah, sure. Little asshole kid keeps getting in the way of arresting Phantom and his partners.”   
  
“Oh, really? What’s her quirk, anyways?” Ingenium turned his attention to Hitoshi after a moment when it was obvious Aizawa wouldn’t answer.

Hitoshi shrugged. “Whatever, not my place to tell. Where are we going?”   
  
In response, Mic stopped, cried “What! There’s such a long line!” and hunched over like a soggy noodle. Aizawa sighed. He wouldn’t wait in a line that went all the way into the street. 

“Wait, what’s the name of that cafe you’re always talking about?!” Mic cried, grabbing onto Aizawa’s shoulders and shaking him lightly. Hitoshi stiffened and stepped away.

“Kuria Kafe.” Aizawa answered with a sigh. “This was just your plan to meet that girl, isn’t it.”

Mic didn’t offer an answer, just started walking while searching for the place on his phone. It didn’t take long to get there, and Hitoshi ended up taking the lead since Mic couldn’t find it on his phone and nobody trusted Aizawa to actually take them there.

“Menneki!” Hitoshi called as they entered. The cafe was empty beside on man standing at the counter talking to the girl. He was tall, bulky, and dressed in clothes much to big for him. Even when he turned to see Hitoshi and the others with him, nobody could see his face through the shadows.    
  
“Hello! How may I help you?” She said it as she grabbed an All Might cookie from her display area and handed it to the man. He set a couple large bills on the counter and left without another word. As he passed by Hitoshi, the boy caught a glimpse at the man’s bright red eyes and missing nose. 

"Who was that?”   
  


“Oh, some guy asking about a hero named Nighteye. Anyways, how’s it going?” She looked to the heroes, her eyes lingering on Ingenium for a moment longer than necessary.    
  
“Is that a new item?” Hitoshi pointed to a small, mini cake. It was a light blue and each one had three small fondue pipes sticking out of the top. She blushed.

“Grape cheesecakes. Um, you can probably guess who they’re for…”

Hitoshi looked over at Tensei and grinned. “You should feel honoured. She only makes pastries for people she likes.”

He did, indeed, feel honoured. His eyes sparkled as he and his brother ordered one. Mic bought a dessert croissant with chocolate headphones. Drinks varied from coffees to milkshakes and a couple juices. 

“Hey, problem child, you wanna join us?” Aizawa asked when she sat their drinks and food down. She blinked, surprised.

“Is something wrong?” 

“No, just thought you might want to meet somebody.” He watched as she slowly pulled up a chair and sat at the head of the table. She looked around at the others, eyes narrowing as she studied the other adults.

“Midnight-” she pointed at Nemuri, then at Yamada “-and Present Mic. With those two being heroes, I’m guessing you’re one too.” She looked to Tensei and hummed as she thought.

Aizawa joted something down on his napkin and stuffed it in his pocket while she tried to figure out who the last hero was. Then her eyes darted to the cheesecake sitting in front of him. “Oh my gosh-” she blushed and hid her face in her arms. “Oh my gosh you’re Ingenium.”   
  
“Wow, you’re pretty good at this. You said you were a fan, right?” Tensei’s eyes sparkled in excitement as the girl stuttered an answer. “That’s amazing! Say, how much would it cost to buy, say, 23 of these little cakes?”   
  
She looked up in surprise, then laughed out loud. Tensei’s face fell slightly as he looked at the girls’ crooked smile. 

“A single cake is 1600 yen, 23 of them would be, like, 36800. I give discounts if it’s ordered ahead of time, so 36000 yen. But, hey, don’t tell anybody, but I’ll knock it down to 32600 if you autograph a poster of you in the cat room.”

Tensei nodded and smiled again as the girl jumped up and ran out. She returned with a poster and sharpy. 

“Hey, Kohi-chan, you didn’t even seem bothered when you heard Eraser’s real name,” Hitoshi said, leaning across the bar as the others finished up. She shrugged and began messing with his hair. 

“It’s fine. And, hey, don’t worry I won’t tell anybody who your new foster parents are. Mic is pretty cool, huh? I bet he’s awesome to live with.”    
  
Hitoshi sighed and was about to deny an unspoken question when Aizawa, once again, spoke up. “If you want to come over and see how Hitoshi’s doing it’s fine. He has his own room anyways so you two can have some privacy.”   
  
Midnight made an obscene remark that all three teens decided to ignore. 

“Oh yeah! Yeah yeah yeah! That would be totally  _ *rad _ you know?!” Mic was practically jumping in excitement. Hitoshi couldn’t help but compare him to a shaken soda ready to explode at any time. 

So that’s how they all found themselves piling into the Aizawa-Yamada home. Since I forgot to describe the building in an earlier chapter, I will do so now to finish off this one. 

The home is one you would expect to be owned by two very financially comfortable people. It was a large apartment, three rooms, one being the kids room and the other being the master bedroom. The kitchen was right at the front door and then straight ahead was the dining room and past that the living room. It was a big open space with lots of granite and the color white. To the left of where the living room and dining room met was a hallway that had the master bedroom and the guest bedroom with a large bathroom at the end. On the right side of where the living and dining rooms met was a single door that entered into the children’s bedroom. 

Hitoshi opened the door and let Menneki in before shutting the door behind them. In the living room was some chatting by the visiting adults wondering if it was fine to leave the kids alone. Menneki giggled, stuck her back outside and said “he doesn’t swing that way,” before disappearing back in the room.

The kids room was decorated in a way that made it seem like it was meant for siblings of different ages. There was a bunk bed against one wall with a treasure chest toy box at the foot of it. The top bunk was covered in bright neon colors while the one on the bottom was a mix of greys. There was a desk and computer, along with a bookshelf covered in books for various age groups and board games. A white dresser sat near the door to the joined bathroom and a giant teddy bear sat on the group beside the bottom bunk. 

  
*“Cool digs,” Menneki muttered. Hitoshi frowned, wondering what she’d said. “Hey, you wanna play with me?”   
  
“What are we gonna play?”

“Not sure yet… but it’ll end in travisty.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder what would happen if Menneki was thought to be a major villain.


	53. Soldier, Poet, Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ruler, the fighter, and the planner of the Black Star is out tonight and she's causing mayham.

  
Menneki stayed the night at the Aizawa-Yamada home while Eraserhead got ready to go on patrol. Just for safe measure, he glanced inside the bedroom. Hitoshi, despite usually not being able to sleep, was sprawled out and snoring. The girl was completely covered by the bright blankets on the top bunk.

Eraserhead soon found himself wishing he was back home when he was running through the streets trying to escape the fear inducing gasses from the villain Pooka.

_ “Run rUN RUN ERASERHEAD RUN AWAY! HAHAHA!” _

_ Where’s the laughter coming from? _

_ “I CAn SMeLL yOUr FeAr.” _

“It’s fake it’s fake it’s fake it’s fake...” The hero chanted his mantra over and over as he ran through the streets. He hadn’t been able to cancel the villain’s quirk, was she immune? No- other people had been immune, so was his quirk just slipping? “Something’s wrong…”

Something grabbed him and threw him into the ground. It was Tengu, the hero knew that. Tengu was suppose to just look like a bat, but now, as the boy stood over him, he looked like a monster. Whatever the villain said came to the hero’s ears as a shriek like a creature from hell.

Fear… dread… a racing heart and shaking limbs. The hero stared up at the monster and tried to remember if this was a nightmare or real life. The world around him seemed to dance like a mirage. 

“Stop!” Somebody yelled. All at once the mirage dissipated and Eraserhead could see that the boy hovering over him had a baseball bat against his stomach. The pain hit next, as the hero realized the quirk used on him had kept him from feeling pain. He gasped and curled up, holding the spot on his gut where Tengu had beaten him with the bat. 

“What do you think you’re doing?!” the voice cried. It was distorted slightly. Strange, Tensei hadn’t said anything about a voice distorter… “Number one rule! What is it? Tell me what it is Tengu!”

“Violence for the sake of violence is the rule of beasts.” The bat villain dropped his weapon and stepped away from the hero, who in turn struggled to his feet and readied his scarf for capture. “I apologize.”

Eraserhead faltered as the villain bowed to him. It didn’t last long before his scarves shot out in an attempt to capture the villain. The scarf stopped midair before slingshotting back and wrapping the hero up. 

“I’m guessing this is the work of Tsukumogami?” The hero muttered angrily as Adrestia skipped over. The tiny person stopped right in front of him and crouched down at his feet. It was obviously a girl, but her age was unknown.

“Don’t worry, there’s nothing to fear.” The girl placed a hand on his cheek and he activated his quirk. Nothing happened, he couldn’t shut off her quirk, or perhaps she didn’t have one. The second theory was crushed as her hand glowed a soft green color and his pain quickly faded. She smiled at him, a crooked, crazy smile.

“What did you steal from that building?” Eraserhead demanded. She giggled.

“What  _ didn’t _ we take? It’s all gone, good luck to you Penciltop.”   
  


The girl and bat both hurried off and disappeared from the hero’s view. The last thing she said echoed in his head.  _ What didn’t we take? It’s all gone, good luck to you Penciltop. _

_ It’s all gone, good luck to you Penciltop. _

_ Good luck to you Penciltop. _

_ Penciltop. _

_ “That names sounds so familiar.” _

_ Looking for you, actually, Penciltop. _

_ “That’s the nickname Phantom gave me.” _

\------

The Black Star never hurt innocent people these days. No matter how angry they got or how frustrating the heroes were, Adrestia was in charge these days. She remained true to her “pacifists fight without their fists” style. She was giggly, cheerful, and was known for liking to play people’s hair after it’s gone unbrushed for to long. However, she’s also known for her complex plans to destroy entire neighborhoods without actually raising her hand to somebody else.

When making a house of cards, taping a single one will bring the entire thing down. 

She wanted to be known as a kind leader, but her follows learned to fear her. Her ability to see the end result of any situation made her the perfect villain, and impossible to sneak up on. Right now, she was showing off all of her skills.

*“Walk into my parlor said the spider to the fly,” she said before bursting into hysterical laughter. Her voice changer, which looked like a large metal collar with seven sided stars engraved in it.

*”No no no! Said the fly, to ask me is in vain,” Nezu replied cheerfully. The girl’s laughter turned to giggles before she dumped a bunch of something from a little can into her mouth. He climbed up into the booth and stared at a booster seat sitting there. His smile twitched as he sat in it so he could see over the table. Dozens of pages written in english were spread over the table. They all seemed to be about something different, and Nezu fiddled with his tie in hopes that his camera shaped liked a pin would be able to pick up more of it. 

The girl slowly leaned over the table until her face was near his. Despite his best efforts, his ears flattened back and he leaned away. Her mouth opened and he noticed it was full of peppermints a moment too late. His nose scrunched up as the smell burned his nostrils.

*”D' ye know the little Wood-Mouse, That pretty little thing, That sits among the forest leaves, Beside the forest spring?”

Nezu opened his mouth to speak but instead choked. His eyes watered as he tried to remember which poem she was talking about. When he could speak, his voice was gravely and rough. “Its fur is red as the red chestnut, And it is small and slim; It leads a life most innocent, Within the forest dim.”

She smiled. “I like you, what is it you’ve come for?”

Nezu glanced toward the bartender not far away. He was watching and glaring at Nezu. The boy was tall, with black hair and a bandana over his mouth. He wore all leather and every inch of him besides his eyes and hair was covered.

“Don’t mind him,” her voice grabbed Nezu’s attention again. “That’s just Xiuhtecuhtl, we call him Techu though since nobody but us can pronounce it.”

“A new member then? And he’s named after the Aztec god of fire?” If you asked Nezu, he would say he’d always enjoyed mythology. In reality he had never been interested in it and only started studying it a week or so prior when he found out all the villains in the Black Star had code names based on deities. 

“Nice catch. *Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice.”

*”From what I’ve tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire.” Nezu replied, watching as the girl leaned on one elbow and grinned at him.

*”But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate to say that for destruction ice is also great, and would suffice.” 

Nezu swallowed, hoping the burning in his nose would end before the meeting. Thanks to his inability to smell at the moment, he couldn’t tell what was dragged through the bar a moment later. The black garbage bag was clean on the outside except for the hole on the bottom that seemed to be leaking thick blood.

“Oh, naughty naughty! I thought I told them  _ ‘no dragging garbage through the bar’. _ Now poor Techu has to clean it up tsk tsk.” As she said it, the boy rolled his eyes and fished a mop out of a closet along with an unknown chemical.

“So, the meeting, I’m here for information.”

The girl leaned back and laughed before suddenly snapping back and facing him with a black face. It was more unnerving than even the smile the way her tongue ran over her teeth. 

“We both know that’s a lie. You’re stalling for time Nezu. But there’s something wrong, isn’t there?”

  
  
He swallowed. She was right, of course she was, when was she ever wrong. The others were late in arriving. She leaned towards the window of the booth and flipped the curtains away to show a massive storm brewing around the bar. She let the curtains flop back to grab his attention again.

“It’s not fair, is it?” She said quietly. “Somebody stronger than you, picking on you for no reason other than to get back at somebody? It’s not fair…"

After a second of silence her modd did a complete 180 and returned to the energetic, slightly psychotic girl from before. She giggled. *“O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won!"

Nezu swallowed and hid his hands under the table to ensure she didn’t see them shaking. *”The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, while follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring.”

Adrestia jumped up and began dancing, taking the hands of Techu, who dropped his mop when she did so. *” But O heart! heart! heart! O the bleeding drops of red, where on the deck my Captain lies, fallen cold and dead!"

A second later, the air turned still. Nezu ducked under the table as his mind went fuzzy and his senses burned and screamed at him that something was wrong. Adrestia was gone, everybody was gone and, by the time he collected himself, the entire bar was empty besides him.

“Nezu?” A voice shook him out of the lingering effects of Pooka’s quirk. Eraserhead watched him worriedly. “Are you alright?”

Nezu slowly crawled back up onto the booth to see if she’d left anything. A single piece of paper sat on the table.

_ *”I miss the days when I could laugh and not feel like a liar. I _ _ miss the nights before the blue when all I feared was fire.” _

“It would seem… that Adrestia is dropping hints to who she is.”   
  



	54. Escape from the bar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of the last chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are all short and kinda uneventful, but whatever. The next part of this story will be kinda weird, sorry

They seemed to be fleeing. The group of villains piled into a van had a bat guy sitting on top with a woman and man holding onto to the back doors of the vehicle. A young man with a star on a bandana on his forehead was driving the van with the most serious expression you’d ever see. In the passenger seat, Fuko was holding onto a woman with sea green hair while trying to buckle them both into the one seat. Both were screaming. 

“What’s going on-” Danny muttered as the van sped past them during his patrol. All Might flew past a second later, trying to catch up. Danny turned invisible and flew after in case the hero needed help. 

Every time All Might got close, the two people holding onto the back of the vehicle would use their quirks to create a storm and blow him away. 

“Hey you need help?” Danny called as he caught up. All Might startled, but quickly dismissed it when he saw who it was.   
  
“Dan-”   
  
“It’s Phantom! What’s going on?” They both hurried towards the storm, but, this time, Danny took hold of the hero and turned them both intangible. “Hold on!”   
  
They rushed through the wind and freezing water towards the van.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” a voice echoed as the entered the calm eye. A girl stood on top of the vehicle despite the speed and wind. Her frown twisted up into a crooked smile. “Good bye.”

As All Might reached for her, her hand landed on his face. With a puff of steam he transformed and she gripped his shirt to keep him from falling off the vehicle. The hero’s eyes widened as he stared at the girl keeping him from falling. She stomped twice, the doors flung open, and she let go. 

Danny’s power gave out at that moment too, leaving him to fall on top of the hero as they landed on a mattress and slid across the ground.

The van made its way to a canal and disappeared into the water. Later when the vehicle was fished out, they saw that everybody and everything inside had been cleared out. It had been their plan. Or, rather, it had been Adrestia’s plan. Later that night, All Might found himself in Nezu’s office. The room was quiet as they stared at the tea in their hands. 

“So, they know what your true form looks like?” Nezu asked quietly. He ran a paw over the rim of his cup while he thought. A pile of pictures and papers (and a single napkin) sat in front of them on the table. They were all from the footage taken by his tie pin.

“Just her, I believe, the bat guy covered his eyes, and the two at the doors were looking away.”

“If she knows, it’s safe to assume she’s told the others,” Eraserhead replied. He was curled up his sleeping bag on the couch, still shivering from when he’d pushed through the storm around the bar to get inside. He had a slight case of hypothermia, but his scarf had helped keep his face and hands safe from the frozen rain of the storm. 

“Yes, I suppose that’s true,” All Might sighed. Nezu looked like he disagreed, but decided not to say anything.

“You can stay at the school for the time being if you need a place to stay,” Nezu offered as he picked up a scrap of paper with a poem on it. So far he and Aizawa were the only ones who knew about All Might’s secret, mostly because the hero was planning to work there. Eraserhead’s quirk could poof All Might into his weaker form so they thought it best to just avoid surprises by telling him.

“No, thank you but I’ll be fine.” Another one of All Might’s problems is that he is deathly afraid of inconveniencing others. Nezu knew it, Eraserhead was annoyed by it, and it would most likely be the reason of All Might’s demise one day. 

Nezu reread the short poem again and again. _ “What does she mean by ‘blue’? Does she mean it like the color? As a feeling? And what fire?” _

He’ll have to look up some fire quirks later perhaps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really need you all to.let me know your favorite ships in bnha and danny phantom so that I can figure out what to do with hitoshi.


	55. Amazing! (not so amazing)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Villains here villains there...
> 
> The poor boy doesnt get a break!
> 
> Aizawa still jumps to vonclusions when it comes to the Phantom Patrol

“Menneki, did you hear about that circus coming through town?” Sam asked as the girl dished out cold drinks. She smiled, then fiddled with her apron nervously. 

“N-no but I think maybe you guys should stay away from it. Erm, bad vibes and poor role models and all that.” Hitoshi listened to the conversation from where he stood behind the counter. He changed schools the day before, but he refused to tell anybody the reason why. He went to the same school as the trio and Menneki now, but he remained somewhat quiet around them all. 

“I think it’s awesome. It’s called Circus Gothica. The ringmaster-” nobody notices how Menneki’s eye twitches at the term “- is called Freakshow.”

“And?” Hitoshi said as he made his way up to them. Menneki took his place behind the counter while he chatted with them. They talked about the circus show that night, then about homework. After a while they asked why he had transferred schools at such a weird time. Things had been hectic for a while, so they didn’t really talk about it much.

“My new foster home is nearer to here so I asked to transfer.”

“Oh, so, are you doing okay with the change?” Danny asked.

“Yeah they’re… much nicer than my last parents. And, um, they feed me well and like VIking.”   
  
“Viking?”    
  
“Our cat, his name is Viking. They have a black cat named Kyara and they get along well. And I don’t really mind transferring schools at such a weird time, I actually really love it. I can work in the cafe officially now since Aiz- I mean, my foster parent is okay with it. I’ll be getting paid and everything.”   
  
“What’ll you spend it on?” Sam asked before taking a long drink of her drink.

“I’m going to get my pay in cash and bury it on the beach near the castle.”   
  
It was the most childish thing they’d ever heard, but the look Menneki shot them stopped them from giggling or laughing. It wasn’t a joke, and there was a reason why the boy didn’t trust a bank or his foster parents with his money.

“Hitoshi, you can take a break if you want, it’s rather slow right now.” Menneki set an iced black coffee in front of his then ruffled his hair. The boy shook his head, glancing over at the clock above the entrance. It was a cuckoo clock, but the bird that was suppose to come out had been broken off and replaced with a blue cat bobble head.

“It’s getting late, I really need to get home.”   
  
Late, in this case, was about 6:30. Izuku nodded in agreement before standing up and trying to push Danny out of the booth. 

“So, the Circus Gothica, tomorrow night at 10:30?” Sam asked the others. Menneki sighed and returned to the bar while they decided on what to do. Izuku and Danny shrugged and said they’d be there, while Hitoshi just shuffled nervously.

“Thanks for the invite but, uh, I just got to this new home. I don’t want to annoy my foster parents by asking to go somewhere like that right off the bat.” 

Izuku gave him a sad look but nodded in understanding. “We get it. We’ll do something altogether sometime. Something that doesn’t involve villains and family members.” He looked over at Danny who just glared back.

“Goodnight!”s rang out as the kids departed for the night.

Danny had to make a stop on his way home that night. 

The alarm rang, alerting nearby heroes and Phantom to the robbery of a fully-stocked jewelry store. 

“Stop!”   
  
To the boys surprise, all four of them stop what they were doing and turn to him, though strange, small ink doodle creatures continued flying around and grabbing jewelry off the shelves. They varied in size and their quirks were more or less a mystery. Their eyes, though, were what caught his attention first. They were a bright, solid blue that seemed to glow in the dark store. The second thing was that one of them was a young boy no older than seven with bright green hair and covered in stolen jewelry. 

“Woah, and here I thought merchandise flying off the shelves was just an expression!”   
  


The young boy aimed his palms at him and a few fireworks flew out, nearly hitting Danny in the chest. 

“Who are you guys anyways?” Danny asked. He narrowly dodged as one of them, a man with black hair tied back in a ponytail, attacked. It was obvious what his quirk was after that, seeing as his punch blew through a chunk in the wall when he threw a punch at Danny.

“Hey, I’m not a hat guy!” he yelled as the kid jumped on his head and covered his eyes.

Sirens outside interrupted the fight as all the villains quickly fled from the store. Danny grabbed the youngest, holding his wrists up so the boy couldn’t shoot projectiles anymore. Instead, the kid aimed the bottom of his bare feet at Danny and shot fireworks from that instead. 

“Hey!” Danny yelped, dropping the villain kid to instead pat out the fire on his clothes. The villains were gone before the vigilante could even shake off the jewelry the kid had accidentally dropped into his white hair. 

“Phantom!” A loud shout echoed through the store. Eraserhead crawled into the window, glaring at the boy and flaring up his quirk. “What did you do?!”   
  
“Nothing!” Danny dodged as the hero attempted to wrap him up in his scarf. “If you’d give me a moment to explain-!”

But Eraserhead seemed to annoyed to listen. As soon as the hero blinked, Danny slipped through the floor and into the basement. To his annoyance, he noticed a large, smoldering hole in the stone. The villains had tunneled into the jewelry store basement to bypass security.

“Shit…” Danny mumbled as he hurried to follow the hole.

\---------

“Hello! Beautiful night, right? How was that new prototype I sent you?” Yurei gushed over the heroes as they entered the Fenton home. Jack was in the lab, Jazz was off trying to do some field studies, and Danny disappeared from his room early that morning. Not that the heroes, Eraserhead and Nezu, knew that. She didn’t even seem bothered by the fact that it was almost 9 at night.   
  
“Yes, we did, but we’re actually here to talk with Daniel, if you don’t mind,” Nezu asked, eyes already wondering around the area. His eyes hovered towards the entrance of the lab before darting to the stairs. The sound of footsteps had grabbed the attention of all three of them. Menneki paused what she was doing and shifted the weight of the backpack she was carrying.

“Menneki, where is he.” Eraserhead narrowed his eyes, recognizing the backpack as Danny’s emergency bag. The girl’s eyes looked up at the ceiling as she thought about what she’d say.    
  
“I’m not sure I know where he’s not.”   
  
“You’re telling me… you don’t know where Danny is?” Eraserhead asked, eyes giving away that he was annoyed. Nezu’s smile faltered a little as the girl still refused to look at them.

“It wouldn’t be inaccurate to assume that I couldn’t exactly not say that that is or isn’t almost partially correct.” Her lips twitched. Nezu climbed off of Eraserhead’s shoulder as she spoke.

“So, you  _ do  _ know where she is?” Yurei asked, face twisted up in confusion. The girl smiled, obviously amused as she looked at Nezu.

“On the contrary, I’m possibly more or less not definitely rejecting the idea that in no way with any amount of uncertainty that I undeniably do or do not know where he shouldn’t probably be, if that indeed wasn’t where he isn’t. Even if he wasn’t at where I knew he was that’d mean I really have to know where he wasn’t.”

“You know where he isn’t?” Eraserhead slowly inched towards the staircase, but paused when her smile grew.

“I know he isn’t at the coffee shop!” With that she turned and darted up the stairs with the hero at her heel. She ran into Danny’s room, slammed the door behind her, and jumped out of the window she’d left open when she went to retrieve Danny’s backpack.

While Eraserhead poked his head out the window to try and find the girl, Nezu was downstairs trying to work out the word vomit that Menneki had left behind.

  
“So she  _ DOES  _ know where he went! Amazing!” Nezu cried in amusement until he watched a very disgruntled Eraserhead come down the stairs. “Not so amazing…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The phantom patrol are now fugitives, if u didnt catch that.


	56. Who's the bad guy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Menneki is smarter and richer than she looks.
> 
> Also her castle has secrets in her castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot in the earlier chapters eraser and mic werent married yet, but now they are, so I guess they're recently married.
> 
> i'm not sure if I've mentioned before, but sometimes Danny pawned Cujo off to Menneki since she is better with animals. her castle has an area where he can run around and stuff too.

“Thanks for grabbing my bag,” Danny said, walking out of the bathroom of the castle. Izuku and Sam were there as well, backpacks at their feet as well. Izuku had hurried them all out of their homes right after finding out that there was an arrest warrant for them all. It wasn’t too difficult to find out, since he had a police scanner that Menneki borrowed(_ *cough cough* _ stolen * _ cough cough*) _. Menneki was the only one that wasn’t wanted, but that would probably change soon.

“Hitoshi said he wouldn’t tell anybody where the castle is, but I’ve gathered all the stones and the flag anyways.”  
  
“Flag?” Sam asked, looking at the pile of rocks on the floor under her desk. There was, indeed, a small red flag sticking out of the top of it.   
  
“Yeah, it sits on the top of the castle sometimes, but it’s small enough you barely notice it. Especially if you come by foot.” Menneki made her way to a couch, stood on top of it, and pulled a blanket on the wall back to show a couple mini fridges and a bin of cooking supplies and boxed foods stuck in the wall. “You guys like eggs?”   
  
A chorus of “yes”s rang out and she busied herself with plugging in a portable gas burner and scrambling some eggs for breakfast. An intrigued Izuku began searching behind all the blankets on the wall to see where they’d lead. He found a microwave and coffee maker behind one, a small crawl space that he didn’t want to follow, and an area full of of bins with clothes, blankets, pillows, and a few air mattress in the last. The bedroom had been redesigned into a pet heaven for Viking and Cujo, the latter of which was napping on a giant dog bed in the center of the room.  
Menneki seemed amused.

“My family has more money than you’d think,” was her only answer to Izuku’s unspoken questions. “But besides that, shouldn’t you guys go over those villains you saw last night?”  
  
The others agreed, deciding to label and figure out who the villains were while they ate.

“So, the first one was a woman with her hair spiked up a lot. Black hair. Solid sorta glowy blue eyes-” Menneki choked on her drink, but Danny continued when she waved her hand for him to continue “- she wore a black corset and black shorts. She has a red and white cloak and braided blue bracelets on her wrists.”

Menneki rubbed her wrist while she looked at the ground in thought. “Was she… covered in tattoos by any chance?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?” Danny watched as she borrowed Izuku’s tablet and quickly put in some information. 

“Circus Gothica is an American show… but most of the people are actually from Japan. Here.” she turned the table towards them. It was a mugshot, Danny was getting tired of seeing those. “She changed her name to Lydia Harburg, but she was originally a Japanese villain who was a part of the Black Star. She and her brother were extremely powerful and could make slight alters to reality itself-”

“Wait, wait a minute, tell us their quirks and names or something before you drop something like that on us!” Danny threw his hands up in frustration. 

“Okay, alright! So Lydia, or Silverpen, can bring drawings to life. Her brother, who was and still is a villain they call Silvertongue, can bring anything to life so long as he reads it aloud. It’s unknown if he’s actually altering reality or if he just causes hallucinations, but either way he’s powerful and dangerous.”

“Isn’t silvertongue something from a book?” Sam mumbled. 

“Next villain?” Izuku said, taking his tablet back and saving some information into his notebook app.

“Um, okay, a big tall dude with black hair pulled back into a ponytail and sideburns. He wore the blue bracelets too and his eyes were blue as well. Um, his skin was dark, it seemed to get darker when he was about to punch something, so I think it was some sort of quirk tell.”  


They all looked to Menneki, who squeezed her eyes shut. “Um… Goliath, he was a minor villain while he was in Japan. Disappeared about five years ago, I didn’t know he went to America, actually.”  


“Alright. Um, there was another woman. She had dark hair shaved off on one side. I didn’t see her quirk she had a braided collar instead of bracelets. The last was a kid that was, like, maybe seven or eight. Braided collar too.”  
  
Menneki’s eyes flew open. “Short, kinda chubby?”

“Yes…”

“Creation quirk?”  
  
“Yeah, I think so. He could shoot fireworks and stuff out of his hands and feet. Why, do you know who he is?”

“His name’s Wakai Yaoyorozu. He’s been missing for over a year now.” She was already standing up and heading over to her desk. She pulled a file off and returned to the others. She flipped through picture after picture of people the trio didn’t recognize until she pulled out a picture of a young boy with his family. He had black hair in the photo while Danny had seen him with bright green. He was being held up by a girl in expensive looking clothing with a mansion in the background.

“Most people have come to call the boy Youngblood, though. His mother has the ability to appear invisible to certain people, and his father has a weak creation quirk. Youngblood has both quirks.”

The trio nodded. Only Sam looked a little suspicious of how Menneki knew all this. “So, if Circus Gothica is run by villains, who would Freakshow, the ringleader, be?”  


The girl bit her lip and looked back at her file. “His name… um… It’’s-”

A knock at the door interrupted them. Hitoshi walked in without an answer, looking around at the mess of clothes and dirty dishes. He had a backpack on and was dressed like he was ready to run off. Though, in this case, he kinda did.

“You guys ready?” He asked, looking at everybody then to Menneki in confusion. “I thought you guys were going to the Circus thing? Especially now that you know they’re all villains…?”

Menneki jumped up just before the kids processed what he said and hurried to change. Izuku pulled down the clothes from their hiding spots, noticing with excitement that they were all costumes. Colored hair spray, a long white wig, some hair highlights. 

Izuku sprayed his hair black and put in colored contacts, red. Danny messed with his hair, adding green and purple hair chalk in it in streaks. Sam let her hair down and parted it differently and grabbed contacts like Izuku’s. Other than hair or face, the kids mostly looked for black shirts and pants. Hitoshi was dragged into the bathroom by Menneki so they could mess with each other’s hair.

A few minutes later Menneki walked out with red hair spiked up with a black minidress and striped black and red leggings underneath and platform boots. Her black lipstick and eye shadow was such a change from her usual look that she was barely recognizable. Hitoshi came out with his hair colored a dark blue with similar eyeshadow and lipstick. He wore a black tank top, leather skinny jeans, and a spiked collar. His hair was flat and straight with a top hat keeping it down. Combat boots and various jewelry pieces finished off the look. 

“Wow…” Sam said, turning Menneki in circles to take a look at the girl. She no longer looked cheerful, but her lips did twist up into a wicked grin. “You look good as a goth. Ever think of changing your style?”  


“There’s a reason I have so much leather and black clothing.”

“We really need to go, we’ll be late if we don’t.” Danny waved towards the door. He wore a simple black t-shirt and a grey beanie. Izuku hurried out first, a black sweatshirt covering the clothes he hadn’t changed. He was wearing his costume underneath, but the giant sweatshirt helped hide it. His hood stayed up. Sam was next, her costume hidden underneath a pair of palazzo pants and a spiked leather jacket.

“Woop woop!” Menneki yelled as she climbed onto Hitoshi’s back and pointed forward for him to walk. He sighed but went on without argument. “You need to get stronger so you can be a great hero!”  
  
Now that she said it, Sam noticed the bulge of muscle underneath his jacket. He had more than even Danny, plus he was taller.

“S-so, Hitoshi, did you really run away from your foster parents?” Sam asked, moving closer to stand beside him. Menneki’s foot moved between them, and she glared at Sam until she stepped away. Hitoshi frowned, then shrugged.   
  
“Yeah, Menneki told me to come to the castle and bring my bag so I did.”   
  
_ “Just like that?” _ Sam asked him alone. 

_ “If she asks you to do something there’s probably a reason. She’s more intelligent than she lets on.” _

Said girl narrowed her eyes at Sam. A second later the mental link was forcibly destroyed.

“Hey, how far is it from the beach?” Danny asked when they’d finally climbed their way out with Hitoshi in the lead. Menneki quickly began texting somebody and took the lead. 

“My dad’ll come and get us. He we can keep walking until then and he’ll meet us at the convenience store that way.” She pointed north and they all started forward.

Everything seemed louder when they were on edge. The stray cat knocking over a garbage sounded like a hero racing towards them. The clouds blocking the moonlight looked like somebody trying to sneak attack them. Anything could go wrong, and, if their past supervillain fights were anything to go on, everything would. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Menneki is wanted now too because she's hiding the trio


	57. Creator of Chaos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> something went wrong.

"_ Hello my name is Harriet Chin, here live at the Circus Gothica! And amazing performance has been promised. Hey, excuse me young man-" _ the news reporter tapped a young man on the shoulder to grab his attention. The young lady at his side gripped his hand tight and stared into the camera. The boy glared at the reporter, but didn't bother trying to move away. Eraserhead didn't see any of what was happening on the TV screen though, he was to busy staring down at the report he was about to hand in.

_ "Would you mind telling me what brought you here?" _

_ "A short girl with a talent for sticking her nose where it doesn't belong." _

Eraserhead's eyes shot up at the familiar voice. Hitoshi's purple hair was all the proof he needed to call Hizashi and Tsukauchi. Menneki pulled the boy out of view, but the three kids who followed them were obviously the trio. Danny's half hearted attempt at a disguise was almost funny, while Sam and Menneki looked like entirely different people.

While the hero hurried to call for assistance in arresting the teens, said children were faced with a bigger problem. Hitoshi looked like he was going to be sick the moment the ring leader stepped on stage to announce the beginning of the show.

He was completely bald but his bright blue eyes seemed to glow even with all the lights on him. His chalky white skin looked almost sickly, the color standing out even more against his long red ringleader coat and top-hat. 

“It’s him, why didn’t you tell me?” Hitoshi’s voice came out as a whisper as his legs shook underneath him. Menneki’s frown deepened, but Sam noticed how she refused to look up at the man talking on stage.

“I didn’t know for sure, I’m sorry-” Hitoshi turned away from her and stared up at the man.

“That’s Totsuao Hitoshi… isn’t it,” Izuku said sadly as he watched the ring leader welcome some jugglers up onto the stage. Menneki nodded slightly then glance off towards the entrance. 

“I’ll be right back, don’t let him touch you, that’s how he brainwashes people." Sam started up a chat for the five of them, then nodded for Menneki to go do what she had to.

_ “How are we going to do this?” _ Danny asked while he tried to block out the background noise from Menneki’s conversation with some heroes. She was trying to stall for time, and succeeding, actually. 

_ “We do what we have to do to stop him. _” Hitoshi’s fists shook as he thought it. His eyes seemed to water slightly, but he quickly shook the tears away. Without another word he turned and stormed towards an “EMPLOYEES ONLY” sign.

_ “What are you doing?!” “Stop!” “It’s dangerous.” “It could be a trap!” _ The others panic didn’t stop him from brainwashing the security guard into letting him enter. The trio entered moments after, but it was too late to try and retreat. The childish drawings on the wall paper and dark clothing hanging on a rack didn’t mix properly.

“My my! Haven’t you gotten taller!” Freakshow seemed much taller than he was on stage thanks to the platform boots he wore. “I heard about your sister, what a shame! Arrested then escaped only to join a lowly crime family like the_ Black Star _. What a disgrace.” The man spat the name out like it was curdled milk, then looked towards the security guard still brainwashed in the door frame. 

“So, tell me son-”

“Don’t call me that.”

“-now that you’re here, what are you going to do with me? Arrest me? You haven’t got the authority. Get revenge for what I did to your friend when she was younger? Kohi has taught you better.” “What? What friend of mine did you hurt?” The previously neutral expression on the villain’s face twisted into a cruel smile. “Psh, you idiot, we both know our quirks don’t work on each other. And did she really not tell you? My my, you really are you mother’s son. As dim as her invisible fires. You don’t use your quirks often, do you?” The kids startled as the security guard fell to the floor and the door was slammed shut. Lydia, or Silverpen, stood over her victim with unblinking eyes.

“See, I bet you didn’t know that when you brainwash somebody into doing what they want there is actually two choices of how it’ll go. One, deep down inside their hearts they will want to do as you ask them. Two, they don’t, and their mind cracks under the pressure you put on them.” “Why are you telling me this?!” Hitoshi looked strained, face twisted up in horror. “I was curious, what deep dark urges does young Phantom here want to fulfill? Perhaps, murder? Does he secretly want to rob banks instead of stopping others from doing that? Let’s see… how much does he hate the heroes for hunting him down when all he wants is to help people?” Danny stiffened before transforming just as doodles shot at him from all directions. He yelped and made a pushing moment, surprised when all three of them were thrown across the room. 

A hurricane seemed to form from the wings of the drawings around him, then all went still. It was deathly quiet as Danny stood on the ground surrounded by splatters of ink. He stared off into space, once green eyes solid blue and glowing. Freakshow looked at the blue braided collar on the boy and grinned.

“Your order… is to cause chaos.” 

The boy smiled maliciously, then phased through the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mentioned before that I made a mistake but wasn't going to say what it was, but I decided to just fix it in a way that might not make much since. see, I got Jazz's age messed up, so she should be in her first year of highschool, so I figured i'd fix it just by saying that their school has highschool attached or something. so it's a middle and high school. since Jazz is working with nezu, she's gonna transfer to UA soon.


	58. Look At Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Menneki is arrested
> 
> Hitoshi is arrested
> 
> and Phantom is a villain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter. (also I went through and reread it a bunch so there aren't any mistakes. maybe grammer, or possibly problems with the line spacing, but that's it.)

Menneki was arrested first.

Eraserhead didn’t hesitate to handcuff her as soon as he arrived on the scene. Izuku and Sam made a run for it, while a shaky Hitoshi threw stuff at the heroes to slow them down.

While Izuku and Sam hunkered down in the castle, Hitoshi sat in an interrogation room with his wrists cuffed to a table. 

“Look at me,” Eraserhead demanded of the boy. He was furious, annoyed, and altogether fed up with the child who had betrayed his trust. The look on Hitoshi’s face when he obeyed made the anger vanish all at once, though.

“Tell me what happened,” the hero asked gently, not wanting to hurt the boy more. Hitoshi’s eyes were red and puffy from crying, and the bags underneath far more prominent than usual, but his eyes were dull and emotionless.

“Menneki called me soon after you tried to arrest Phantom. She said she needed my help… when I got to our safe haven, the castle, she said we were going to Circus Gothica because there were villains hiding there. Other than that we didn't really have a plan."

Tsukauchi made a checkmark on his clipboard as he watched from the other side of the one way window.

"Tell me, why did Phantom rob that jewelry store."

"He didn't," Hitoshi glared at the hero, but flinched and returned to his resigned look. He stared at his hands. “He was trying to stop some people who were brainwashed into doing bad things.”

Eraserhead looked at the boy’s hands, then a bruise forming on his jaw from getting punched while the hero was trying to detain him. “Who is Freakshow.” Hitoshi’s face scrunched up as he tried not to cry.

“Totsuao Hitoshi.” The hero placed a gentle hand on the boy’s, only to earn a flinch and a whimper from the child. “He can’t hurt you. Or Phantom, if you tell me where he would be going.” Hitoshi looked up at the hero, feeling the urge to cry but not wanting to annoy the hero more.

“The order given was ‘_cause chaos_’. Orders as vague as those don’t work properly. It’s all up to what Danny deems as chaos.” Eraserhead’s eye twitched at the boys words. The kid flinched and began shaking when the hero stood, but stopped as soon as he’d exited the room. Menneki should’ve been next to be interrogated, and she would’ve been if she hadn’t somehow escaped. Her room was only a few halls away from Hitoshi’s, but she’d still managed to evade people coming through.

“Go! She wouldn’t have left Hitoshi behind!” Eraserhead pushed people out of the way as he raced back to the room the boy was left in, only to find the door wide open and the kids missing. “Damnit.”

According to security cameras, it was a police officer who had freed them. His face wasn’t shown, and he left no trace of his existence behind.

“Thanks Gami-chan!” Menneki said cheerfully. The bald man took of his close and dropped them on the ground before smiling at the girl. He waved for her and Hitoshi to follow before leading them into the sewers.

\----

Izuku and Sam argued about the best way to save Danny while waiting for their friends to escape from jail and return to the castle.

“Those bracelets and collars are something though, aren’t they? I mean, his quirk is the power to brainwash anybody who he touches, and he had blue hair, so what if they are his hair and he uses them to control people?” Izuku pointed out. Sam threw her hands up. 

“Yeah okay, but how are we supposed to  _ get them off _ ?!” 

Before their arguing could go on longer, a blanket was shifted out of the way for Menneki and Hitoshi to climb out of the crawl space in the wall. “Hello hello! What have I missed?” The kids tried their best, but their best wasn’t good enough.

At 1:31 in the morning, Phantom had successfully committed his first crime. A jewel heist.

At 3:47 in the morning, Phantom severely damaged an empty cat café by repeatedly blasting holes in the walls. The only good he did was first releasing the cats out into the street first.

At 4:53 in the morning, Phantom threw a young female hero into a building and burned her hands.

At 6:25 in the morning, the ex- vigilante Phantom was labeled as an official villain.

In the course of barely six hours, their friend had become one of the most wanted criminals in Japan, and a nationwide manhunt began for both him and his four friends. No word was spoken about his suspected alter-ego besides the fact that Danny Phantom was wanted for questioning.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to show Hitoshi as being traumatized, but I'm not sure if I did well.


	59. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a short thing I really wanted to write. it's not THAT important, but still useful enough you should probably read it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know if you've got tips on writing abuse without it being angsty. also PTSD isn't the easiest thing to describe so tips are much appreciated.

The grin on Phantom’s face in the photo was eerie and maniacal. The way Menneki’s eyebrows furrowed told everybody in the room something was wrong.

“He’s fighting back, but he won’t be able to for long. It’ll destroy him.”

“Wait, what do you he’s fighting it? How is this fighting it?!” Hitoshi asked, reading over the articles. It was barely noon, yet he had robbed multiple buildings, injured seven heroes, and destroying Menneki’s cafe. 

“Danny has seen the worst things humanity has to offer. He’s dealt with villains who suck happiness out of people, a teenager who brainwashed kids into attacking their teachers, and a sucky vampire creep who tried to ruin his father’s marriage. Chaos to him would be literal genocide, or burning the city down. This, this is nothing! He can’t stop completely without it messing his head up, so he’s probably trying to do smaller things to delay the inevitable.”

“Inevitable?” Sam asked. Menneki looked up at the ceiling, eyes watering as she sighed. Her eyes squeezed after the first tear fell. 

“Brainwashing is a complicated thing,” she whispered, “you must be careful not to hurt anybody. If you have any desire to something, regardless of how small it is, you will be completely taken over. If you don’t, think the orders will rattle inside your head over and over until you _want_ to do everything you’re told. The voice will get louder and louder the more you refuse until, finally, you start to crack.” “How do you know this?” Sam asked, eyes narrowing at the girl. Menneki just gave her a blank look before changing the subject by waving a newspaper at her.

“We need to figure out how to get that collar off of Danny and the other slaves. For now, though, we need to sleep. Seriously, you guys have been up all night.” Hitoshi didn’t want to sleep, but found himself curled up on a couch with Menneki as a security blanket against nightmares.

_“Look at me.” A calm voice echoes. This isn’t a memory, it’s a nightmare, Hitoshi reasoned. It couldn't have been a memory because he didn’t recognize the basement.. “Look at me.”_ _So Hitoshi does. The voice comes from a young man across standing a few feet from the boy. The blue hair and eyes of the man would’ve been enough to make the boy scream all on its own, but the sight of a bloody young girl on the ground at his side made it worse. _

_ “You did this,” Totsauo said. He sounded bored as he waved to the child of the floor. She was small, no older than five, with bright blue eyes like the man and brown hair.  _

_ Hitoshi choked back a sob as the man raised a foot over the girl’s hand and stomped down on it. Her screams bounced off the concrete walls, but Hitoshi instinctively knew nobody outside could hear them.  _

_ “ _ _ Stop it!” Hitoshi screams, rushing forward and trying to push his father. There wasn’t anything he could do, of course, he only reached to his father’s waist.  _

_ “You brat,” Totsauo growled before backhanding his son and kicking him to the ground. Hitoshi cried out as a foot made contact with his leg, then his back, then an outstretched arm. The pain disappeared as something grabbed onto his leg. A glance back showed the girl’s various injuries healing themselves. Along with that, she seemed able to heal other’s injuries. _

_ She opened her mouth to speak, but it came out as a whisper. “I miss the nights when all I feared was fire.” _

_ Hitoshi screamed again as her eyes began to bleed. _


	60. Creating the Chaos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aizawa's knows he fucked up, Menneki becomes a member of the animals, and danny is exhasted (and a little crazy)

_“We have an anonymous tip involving the phantom story! Official documents and police reports prove that Phantom is actually the victim here! Totsuao Hitoshi, also known as Freakshow, is a villain with a brainwashing quirk.”_

Eraserhead stared down at his hands as he listened to the news. He was hoping that Shinso would show up on the screen again. Or that maybe the boy would return home on his own. The hero’s shoulders shook slightly as he covered his face with his hands.

“Hey, it’ll be alright.” Hizashi sat down on the couch and hugged his husband. “We’ll figure this out…”

Eraserhead wanted to say something, anything, to tell his lover that this was his fault_. “I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions." _

“We know he’s the victim now right? If we find Menneki she should be able to help.” Hizashi cuddled closer as Aizawa’s shoulders shook more. 

_“If I’d asked him what was happening in that jewelry store rather than jumping into arresting him we could’ve solved this without anybody getting hurt.”_

“Sho… Phantom will be fine. He’s a smart boy.” Hizashi pulled his hands from his face so they could look each other in the eyes. 

_“Hitoshi isn’t coming back_.”

Aizawa finally broke, letting silent tears free while Hizashi pulled him into his chest. Whispered words of comfort fell on deaf ears as they curled up on the couch together. 

“Hitoshi isn’t coming home,” Aizawa whispered with a shaky voice. “I hurt him, he’s not going to trust me anymore.”

Hizashi didn’t know what to say to that, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. Aizawa shot up and quickly wiped tears away and tried to fix his hair on the way to answer it.

“Hello?” He asked. A muffled but familiar voice replied with “it’s me.”

The door flung open, startling Hitoshi on the other side. A firm hand pulled the boy inside then closed the door behind him. 

“Are you alright?” Was the first thing Aizawa could say, but Hitoshi shied away and looked at him with a worried look. 

“Menneki asked me to come, she said I was the most likely person to not get arrested…” Hitoshi stepped away from Aizawa whenever he moved. “I-I’m, um, sorry- er, I betrayed you, but I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Tell me, are you okay?” Aizawa demanded as he slowly made his way around the boy to head to the living room. 

“Yes?” The boy raised his hand to his bruised cheek instinctively, earning the hero a ping of guilt.

“You were fighting back, I’m sorry.”

Aizawa made his way into the kitchen and sat down on the couch next to Hizashi, watching as Hitoshi shuffled in but stayed standing. He quickly pulled a binder out and held it out while staring down at his white cat rubbing against his leg. “Um, Izuku made this, it’s full of information we gathered about Totsuao and his quirk.”

He set it on the kitchen table, bowed, and made a move to leave.

“Wait, Hitoshi-”

The boy stiffened and slowly turned to watch the adults. 

“Will you come back… when all this is over?”

The boy’s face twisted into fear. “What will you do if I say no?” He asked quietly. Aizawa leaned back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling.

“Nothing, it’s your decision.”

“Then no, I’ll be safer with Menneki and the others anyways.” He picked up Viking and held him close. “I’ll be taking my cat though.”

Aizawa felt the urge to cry again as the boy walked out. He could faintly hear the tv, which seemed to be haunting him as they talked about Cat and Jackalope, who had, apparently, been out only minutes ago with a new recruit. A short, young thing that wore a childish brown dress with leggings and a dark brown sweatshirt that went over her face. Her mask covered her entire face and was painted creepily. 

She called herself Wendigo.

\------

_“Create chaos, you know you wanna.” The voice echoed in his mind. Phantom couldn’t remember what his real name was any more. He had a real name, right?_

_“Create CHAOS,” a snarling laughter seemed to echo around the vault the boy was robbing. Danny didn’t want to, but the voice got louder when he refused._

_“Please stop,” Phantom sobbed as he grabbed a couple gold bars and flew out. The voice refused to listen, antagonizing him even when the boy thought he’d drop out of the sky from exhaustion. How long had he been doing this without rest? Today was Monday wasn’t it? _

_“CREATE CHAOS!”_

_Phantom flew high into the sky as the voice screamed in his head to do more. Kill, destroy, maime._

_The boy’s eyes shut for only a second and he fell_.

Somebody screamed at the sight of the falling boy. 

“I’ll get him! You get everybody away in case he attacks!” A young man flipped his hood on and crouched on the ground before racing up the side of a building to grab the falling boy. A girl with a jumping quirk hurried to evacuate the area.

“Hey, you alright? Hey, can you hear me?” The young man tapped Phantom’s face in an attempt to wake the kid up but got nothing in response. 

“Is he alright?” The girl asked as soon as she’d made it to her friend’s side.

“Not sure, look at him though, he looks so messed up.” |

There were dark rings around the boy’s eyes and his skin seemed whiter than chalk. The boy always had a mask on and hoodie up, but now he had neither. His white hair stuck up in every way, and seemed brittle to the touch. His clothes were cut up and he had various bruises dotting his skin from battles against heroes throughout these past couple of days. 

“We should get him somewhere safe, he’s obviously in need of help.”

That probably wasn’t the best idea, but they did it anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Totsuao's orders will ring in your head even after the quirk is stopped if he managed to break your mind. I never shared the notes on Shinso's parents but, basically, using a brainwashing quirk improperly can cause somebody to develop schizophrenia.


	61. Crawler, Hop, and Makoto Tsukauchi.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I liked the vigilantes but didn't know how to put them in the story, but I thought this was cool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That last chapter was really messy, sorry. Wendigo's mask is a deer thing.

“We need to call the police,” Makoto Tsukauchi, the sister of a detective, gasped as soon as she saw the boy laying unconscious on the bed. His jacket was hanging on the clothesline outside, and Hop, a young middle school girl, was busying herself brushing blood and dirt out of his hair. 

“We can’t, it’s not fair. Everybody knows he’s a victim now, we need to help him, not arrest him!” Crawler, a college boy with a bright smile, was washing the boy’s boots and gloves, which were covered in blood. Strangely, the blood seemed to turn green when the light hits it a certain way.

“Alright, fine. Let’s see… his order was to  _ “create chaos” _ so we just need to find a way to keep him occupied while we look for a way to break the spell.” Makoto reasoned.

The Crawler, or Koichi, as everybody else called him, finished the boy’s gloves and placed them back on his hands, then hurried with the boots.

“How long has he been like this?” Makoto asked, sitting on the bed next to the boy.

“About four hours. He fell out of the sky and hasn’t woken up since,” Koichi replied as he scrubbed a boot clean. Makoto set her hand against the child's forehead. With a yelp, the boy woke up and jumped through her and onto the ground.

“Woah, it’s alright, it’s okay,” the woman said gently. Everybody stepped away from him, trying to calm him down.

“Where am I?” He asked, his voice breaking as he looked around the room. 

“You’re in my home, you fell out of the sky so I was trying to help you.” Koichi held up a boot. The boy looked at it confused for a moment before returning to looking around the room with a dazed expression. His solid blue eyes made it difficult to tell exactly what he looked at, but he seemed frantic enough that Hop decided to try and help.

“Hey, look at me,” she said quietly. The boy’s head whiped towards her and he whimpered slightly.

“Sam? Is that you?”   
  
“Um, yes. Yes I’m Sam, your, uh, friend.”   
  
“Why aren’t you at the castle, it’s dangerous, you could get hurt- I-I don’t know what’s happening.”   
  
He looked like he was about to cry, but Hop slowly walked forward and hugged him. “It’s alright, just breathe. You’ll be fine I promise.”

The boy took deep, slow breaths and hugged her back. “Sam, I can’t remember my name- is this a side-effect? Please help me, it hurts, and it’s always cold- Sam, please I need you.”   
  
Hop’s shoulders shook as she hugged him tighter. They were about the same age, and, with the whole instant- villains things done with- she and Koichi had been hoping to meet the Phantom Patrol and team up since they were all vigilantes. Not like this, though.

“What’s my name?”    
  
Hop said the first thing that came to mind. “I don’t know.”   
  
The boy screamed and pushed her away before dropping through the floor and disappearing.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Makoto is detectove Tsukauchi's sister, the cralwer (koichi) and hop are vigilantes. Takes place right after the insta villain thing ended and knuckle sister leaves.


	62. Strange to think of what this means.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A newcomer, or two, are added to the castle's residents. 
> 
> More information on why Adrestia is bat shit crazy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many days have passed since danny was brainwashed.

A gasmask was being hung from a pole like flag in an alleyway late at night. Sam took one look at it and cried out when she saw how Danny’s blood had stained the inside a bright green. The same color as his eyes, along with the faint glow. 

She ran to the jacket even as Izuku told her not to. As soon as she was near, a net shot out and wrapped her up. “Jackrabbit run!”

Izuku hesitated too long and found himself tangled up in a net as well. 

“Well well, what do we have here?” Totsuao’s voice echoed slightly as he made his way over. 

“Why do you always say the first word twice?” Izuku asked randomly. There was a moment of silence while the man thought about it. 

“It’s a drama thing. ANYWHO, mind telling me where me son is? Oh, and that little brat girl. I know you’re hiding them.”

“Um, hiding who now?” I voice asked from above. Wendigo sat in a fire escape, staring down at them. Youngblood and Goliath stood on either side of the villain while he readied himself for a fight.

“Come here, little girl, let us play games for old times sake.” The villain laughed as she jumped down to stand between the enemy and her allies.

“Kohi, don’t be shy, we both know you’ve wanted revenge for quite a while!”

In response, the girl darted forward. She was fast, skilled, and much more experienced at hand- to- hand combat than the two slaves. She ripped the collar off of Youngblood. Immediately his eyes turned from blue back to their original color. The boy's eyes drooped and he fell to the ground unconscious.

“No! You brat! I thought you were some fuckin’ pacifist?!”

The girl didn’t respond, instead crouching down in a defensive position. Instead of attacking, Goliath turned and ran off with Totsuao gripping onto him. 

“Thanks, Wendigo,” Izuku said while she quickly cut the rope of the nets. She carried the unconscious child while they headed back to the castle.

“Hey! Did it work?! Did he think you were me?!” Menneki asked excitedly as she welcomed everybody back home including the Wendigo. They were the same height and size, but completely different personalities. Wendigo refused to take off her mask whenever she was around the others except for Menneki, but Izuku and Sam figured there was a logical reason for that.

\------

The Black Star seemed to have a bone to pick with Totsuao too. 

“We will destroy the city to find Freakshow, so I suggest you turn your attention to him rather than Phantom!” Adrestia screamed one morning when her gang had blocked the roads. Somehow, she’d gotten Stains attention, since he took a break from stalking heroes to search for the villains. They made a promise, and everyday they acted on it for nearly a week. Phantom was slowing down due to exhaustion, but Adrestia seemed to be getting more frantic.

For every day that Totsuao roamed free, she destroyed villain gangs to search for him. It would’ve been a good thing had she not given her imps permission to kill or torture villains for information. 

“I’ve never had a kill count before,” Adrestia laughed as she sat across the table from Eraserhead and Nezu. “Then again, I’ve never technically killed somebody, so I’m not really a murderer.”

“Why are you doing this? We can help, but you’re hiding things from us.” Nezu asked. He watched her smile fade.

“A consequence of having a soft heart is feeling the world’s pain.”

Eraserhead scoffed. “You have a soft heart? If you had a soft heart you wouldn't be a villain. You’re the bad guy, why can’t you get that through your head.”

“Through my head…?” her voice sounded drowsy and dull. “Totsuao’s words ring through my head, that’s why I’m like this. Killing him won’t make it stop, but it might make it easier for me to move on.”

Eraserhead tried not to feel guilty when he thought back to the binder Hitoshi had given him. Even after a brainwashing quirk is canceled, sometimes there are lingering effects. Voices edging you on to do the last thing you were ordered. It was considered trauma induced schizophrenia, but some were trying to get it renamed since it had its own problems that went with it. Mood swings, auditory hallucinations, possibly dissociation, personality disorders. The main problem, though, was that a lot of times the victim’s quirks would break under pressure. 

“What was his order?”

Her mouth twitched into a sad smile. "Be a villain. Rather vague, huh?"

Before the heroes could think of something to say, she jumped up from the table. “There are no happy endings, endings are the saddest part!”

“So give me happy beginnings, and a very happy start,” Nezu finished sadly before watching her walk around what was left of the ruined cafe. Menneki’s cafe, actually. At the moment, all there was only the foundation left and a single booth off to the side of everything. It had been left behind when the ruined building had been bulldozed. 

“I really loved this place,” she whispered before suddenly throwing her hands up. A giant black shadow swooped down, grabbed the girl, and flew off in a blink of an eye.


	63. Did you know owls swallow their prey whole?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's his name again?

_“Create chaos_,” the voice whispered to him while he sat on the rails of a bridge. Phantom had changed form and was leaning over the side. He wanted it to stop, just for a second. 

“Danny stop!” Somebody screamed at him. He turned to see who it was. A man with messy black hair, bloodshot eyes, and black clothing stared at him. “_Who is he_?” Danny couldn’t remember, but that white scarf and yellow goggles looked familiar.

“Danny, Danny, Danny… is that what my name was? Danny? Daniel? Did I have a last name?”

The man looked pained, but nodded. “Yes, you did. Your name was Daniel Fenton. Can you come over here? Please. Just for a moment.” 

The boy stepped off the railing. “What am I doing, where am I?”

“_Destroy him, it’ll make people sad.”_

“Come to me, I’ll help you.” Eraserhead stepped forward, arms outstretched like he wanted a hug. The boy shivered slightly, a thin stream of frost escaping his mouth. 

“Cold, it’s cold-”

_“He’s your enemy, that’s why your senses went off. He’ll destroy you-”_

Danny clawed at his scalp and stepped away. “Bad, you’re bad, you’ll hurt me.” He backed into the railing and quickly climbed over it.

“No, I’m not, it’s just Totsuao messing with your head. Danny, listen to me, please. Your friends are worried, they’re scared.”

“Friends? What friends? I have friends?”

"_CREATE CHAOS!" The _voice screamed, causing the boy to yelp and grab his head. He began to cry before suddenly changing form and turning invisible. The hero ran to the railing and looked over it down into the canal. There was no water, and the hero didn’t breath until he was sure there was no sign of Danny on the ground below. 

“Tsukauchi,” Eraserhead whispered into his phone. “We were right, Danny transformed into Phantom in front of me.”

“How is he?”

“Memory loss, paranoia, and… suicidal tendencies.” The hero took a shaky breath before messaging his eyes. “He’s losing the battle, and we still can’t find him.”


	64. Choo choo!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y'all might hate for how this went

Menneki tracked the villain to a train station. Menneki and Hitoshi dressed in the Jackrabbit and Cat costumes respectively with Wendigo to distract the heroes while Sam and Izuku made their way to the station to stop the villain from leaving with Danny.    
  
_ “Remember what Menneki said,” _ Sam said. Her voice went through the chat in a weak whisper.

_ “Danny gave in.” _

The two snuck up to the train and began relying on Sam to try and sense Danny’s mind. They found it quickly and slid the door open. 

“Oh my gosh Danny!” Sam cried, looking at the boy napping on a pile of stolen goods. His sweatshirt was missing, along with his gasmask, and his suit was extremely cut up from the various fights he’d been in throughout the week. At the sound of Sam’s voice he startled awake and jumped to his feet.

_ “Can’t you enter his mind?” _ Izuku asked. 

Sam shook her head.  _ “Not a good idea with a brainwashed victim, we might get messed up as well.” _

“Who are you?!” Danny yelled before lunging at them. He pinned Sam to the ground and growled in her face. Before she could answer or defend herself, the train lurched forward and danny tipped over onto the floor. She grabbed the collar and pulled it off. 

The boy immediately went limp on the ground and transformed back into his normal self. 

“Danny? Danny!” Sam screamed, shaking him. His head lulled, but when she looked for a pulse she found one. A faint one, sure, but a pulse nonetheless.

_ “He’s alive, but we need to get the hell outta here,” _ Izuku looked out of the doors that were still cracked open to see they were going to go over a bridge soon. They wouldn’t be able to jump from so high up. Sam scowled at the sunset. 

“Well, that’s to bad,” a voice said from above. There was a latch to the roof, and Totsuao was poking his head down through it. “Looks like you’ve made some mistakes.”   
  
He jumped down, soon followed by Silverpen. The two backed the kids against the door.

“Stay back or I’ll-” The lipstick taser Sam pulled out was snatched from her hand by a plur of red. An ink creature flew it to Totsuao’s hand.

“You know, you two really shouldn’t have come here out of costume. You must’ve known you would die, so why try to save him?” The question made Sam grind her teeth in anger, but the look on his face showed that he was genuinely curious. He couldn’t understand why they’d risk their lives for their friend.

“The fact that you had to ask that explains why you only have brainwashed slaves working for you.”

“Loneliness is a fire that I hold close to my skin, to see how much I can take before I fold my hand in.” The villain replied softly. “Did you know that Ember wanted to be a poet when she was a child? It took me years to beat it out of her. She told me that no matter what I did, I'd never be loved. I suppose she was right, but it’s not like I care. Why would I care about something like that?”   
  
The villain smiled suddenly. “Lydia, push them out!”   
  


A wave of ink creatures slid off her heavily tattooed body and pushed the kids out of the train.

“Danny wake up! Danny!” Sam screamed as they fell towards the water far below. The bridge, he’d stalled for time to throw them off the bridge.

With a start the boy woke up, transformed, and grabbed his friends before they could hit the water. He flew them to land and they watched the train disappear into the distance since he was too exhausted to chase it. 

“Sam? Izuku?” Danny whispered as he was enveloped in hugs. “Where are we?”   
\-----

Menneki jumped from rooftop to rooftop with Eraserhead hot on her tail. She’d been split up from the other two thanks to Eraserhead teaming up with other heroes. Kumai had followed Wendigo, while Hitoshi tried to outsmart a slightly annoyed Hawks.

“What are you doing?! Shouldn’t you be out looking for Danny?!” The hero yelled. Menneki dodged his scarves. “And why the hell won’t you fight back Jackrabbit?!”   
  
Oh boy, i’ve looks could kill.

“Come now don’t be like that.” Her voice came out unmodified by Izuku’s voice distorter. Eraserhead stiffened, then narrowed his eyes.

“That means you aren’t Wendigo then, right Menneki? And Hitoshi, is he dressed as Cat right now?”   
  
Menneki hummed, but it sounded more like a pur as she switched the voice distorter back on. 

“Everything will be alright,” she said before she dove off a building. Eraserhead ran over to see her running off with only a slight limp.   
  
Hitoshi had already escaped Hawks by using his quirk to make the hero stop and fly the opposite way. Wendigo had run into the sewers to escape Kumai and succeeded. Never underestimate a child’s sense of self-preservation. 

Unless it’s Izuku.   
  
A week of searching and planning ended in less than an hour as Danny was rescued and hidden in the castle with his friends, plus a moody seven year old boy and a girl who refused to take off her mask. A road to recovery lay ahead of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it might seem like a rushed end to this totsuao problem, but I promise I put at least half and hour of thought to how it went down. The end to the original episode went similarily i think.


	65. Road to Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids need a break really badly. Oh, its summer vacation BTW, but it'll only last a few more weeks.

“So you really don’t remember anything?” Sam asked as she ran a hand through his hair. It seemed to calm him down a little, and he looked comfortable laying on the couch with her. Menneki sat at her desk sewing up his Phantom costume. He was having difficulties transforming back and forth, so he was stuck in Phantom form for a while. 

“Bits and pieces. It’s all sort of a blur.” He took a deep breath and looked away. “I did some bad stuff, didn’t I.”   
  


“Nothing we can’t fix,” Menneki interrupted, making her way over with a neatly patched suit. So well patched that the only evidence of the cuts in the fabric were small, grey line in the fabric. She smiled. 

“Vroom!” Youngblood yelled as he ran from the pet room through the living area with Viking chasing a string he trailed behind him. “Vroom vroom!”   
  
The child jumped over the couches with the cat following at his heel.

“Viking’s fun, can I have a pet?” The boy asked excitedly. He ran up to Menneki and held up his arms for her to pick him up. Thanks to his small size, she could hold him on her hip without difficulty. 

“A pet? Depends on the pet. Maybe Wendigo will take you out to see if any animals like you.” Menneki looked up at the girl chilling on one of the couches.

“Sure.” Wendigo stood, and Sam sighed.

_ “Animals are repelled by Wendigo.” _ She said through the chat to Danny. Regardless, the child was excited to go out, and they all finally got to see underneath the girl’s mask.

Wendigo had black and white striped hair and red eyes that seemed beady and narrow. When she smiled, the inside of her mouth was similar to that of a dog. A long tongue, sharp canines, and black gums.

“So, Danny, we should probably make sure there’s nothing wrong with your quirk.” Izuku said, remembering what Menneki had told them about quirks getting broken under pressure. It mostly only happened to mental quirks, but physical ones could be damaged as well. 

Danny shrugged and hurried into the bathroom to change back into his newly repaired jumpsuit. When he exited, he was greeted with Izuku and Sam arming themselves with paintball guns. One of Sam’s guns looked slightly different, colored with various shades and colors that showed it was put together with mitch matched parts.    
  
“Wow, you really made this?” Izuku asked as he held up his hand, which was supported by a thin metal gauntlet. She nodded. “Why were you a coffee shop worker when you could be some famous support gear inventor. Seriously, Menneki, this is amazing!”   
  
The girl shrugged before waving them all towards the crawlspace. “There’s a small bomb shelter under this beach. Not the smartest idea, but helpful for things like this. You can use anything you see down there. The shelter has an entrance to the sewers, but I suggest you don’t open the doors. If you get locked out it’ll be difficult to find your way back up.”

Izuku went down first, then Sam, then Danny. A light switch was pulled to show a metal room with a couple doors leading to different rooms that were smaller and filled with canned food. The main room, though, was obviously for training. There were weight lifting sets, targets, dummies, and posters over the wall for teaching form for specific martial arts moves.

“Right, let’s begin. She said we can use anything, so blast that dummy.” Sam pointed to a large rubber dummy on the other side of the room with a smiley face painted on it with red paint. Danny aimed and blasted it with no problem. The face melted off into a puddle on the floor. “Gross.” 

“We should test you invisibility and intangibility next.” Izuku pointed towards the doors to the other rooms. “Just pass through those walls a few times and turn the wall invisible.”

Danny did as he was asked without difficulty. The problem was that, once he turned invisible, his body only flickered when he tried to turn it off. When he tried to force his quirk off, he doubled over and began dry heaving.

“Danny? Danny are you okay? Sit down, relax for a moment. Izuku get Menneki!” Sam helped him to the floor, holding his shoulders until she suddenly fell through him. He flickered in and out of view until Menneki and Izuku hurried back into the shelter. 

“Danny, I’m going to cancel your quirk, I need you to tell me if it hurts at all, okay?”   
  
Danny nodded and reached towards her as his breathing became strained. He didn’t need oxygen in this form, but going without it was uncomfortable.

She held his hands and they watched the flickering stop and the green in his eyes dull slightly. He whimpered slightly.    
  
“I couldn’t turn off my quirk.”   
  
Menneki flinched, but nodded slightly. “Your quirk factor is probably damaged. However, it doesn’t affect all of your powers, apparently.” She looked towards the melted head of the dummy. “It’s lucky, really. If it affected all your powers you’d probably kill us all. We can work around the problems. Can you stand?”   
  
Danny nodded and got to his feet shakily. They decided to continue. Danny’s flight was fine, along with his weak telekinesis. It was a new power that let him push or pull small items towards him. They found that his enhanced strength carried into his Danny form. Possession was the last one.

Danny entered Izuku’s body with ease and began doing a little dance. When it came time for him to exit, he got stuck. Menneki had to cancel his quirk, which forced him out of Izuku’s body.

“Sorry. I guess this means I have another set back, huh?” He sat on the ground catching his breath. They’d been careful not to push him too much, but he was still winded and tired. He’d been forced to stay in his Phantom form most of the time he was under the villain’s control, and his body had been damaged because of it.

“We can work on it. I’m sure that, even if you can’t turn your quirk off, you can find a different way to fix it. You okay?” Sam sat beside him, pulling him into an awkward side hug. He closed his eyes, took a few breaths, and finally changed back into his usual form. 

Some good news to make things brighter, then a loud slamming of a door echoed down into the safe room, forcing them to hurry upstairs to make sure nothing had gone wrong.

“Look look!” Youngblood said joyfully, pointing to a large white crow perched on top of his head. Cujo came running out to sit at the boy’s feet. “I found a pet!”   
  
The crow hummed slightly. “As I thought, you are the Phantom Patrol. Hmm…”   
  
They all stared at the bird who had just spoken in a perfect Japanese.    
  
“Wow! My pet can talk!”   
  
Menneki quickly walked over and knelt in front of the child. The crow flew up to a mess of of lights above them that had died. “Youngblood, I need you to tell me where you found that crow.”   
  
“I found him near a big fancy building. It was empty, but he was trying to get inside.”   
  
“I-I-... okay then, would you tell me his name?”   
  
“Minion.”   
  
“No, Youngblood, he’s not your minion, or your pet, he’s too smart for that, so maybe he’ll be your friend instead.”   
  
The boy looked confused, then slowly nodded. He looked up at the boy above him. “Um, what should I call you?”   
  
“I’m rather fond of the name Haru.”

Menneki let out a sigh of relief, then picked the child up. “I need you to answer me one thing, okay?”   
  
“Okay.”   
  
“Do you want to go back to your family?” He immediately shook his head in response. “Do you wanna go with Wendigo to make a new family?”   
  
He smiled and nodded excitedly. “Yes! Yes! Will you be a part of it?”   
  
Menneki smiled and nodded, earning a loud cry of joy from the boy. Soon, he was off with Wendigo somewhere the others didn’t know of. The crow, Haru, followed close behind the young child.

\------ _ time skip (about a week maybe) _

“How’s Phantom?” Aizawa asked gently. He was in his hero costume, but all he did was sit on the bench and sip coffee. Hitoshi sat on the edge of the roof watching him closely. There was no danger of him getting hurt in a fall if his support gear was anything to judge by. The boy had his own costume now, after a week of searching for any clues to whether the kids were alright, Hitoshi was sent to meet with the hero during his break from patrolling. He was still the least likely to be arrested. He had taken over as “Cat” with a purple and black suit, but with an actual cat mask. He wasn’t a good fighter, but he was good with the whips at his waist. 

“He’s fine.”   
  
“Is Sam going to work still even though you took her name?”   
  
“She’s with Phantom.”

“Are you aware that we have proof that Phantom’s alter-ego is Danny Fenton? He transformed in front of me.”   
  
“Yes, why do you think we’re all in hiding?”   
  
Aizawa’s frown deepened. “I’m done trying to arrest you. We want a truce with you kids. You need help, especially if Danny was injured as badly as I think he was.”   
  
Hitoshi slowly lowered down from the ledge. “Menneki said his quirk factor was damaged.”   
  
Eraserhead sucked in a breath. “We can help.”   
  
“By what, putting a quirk suppressing collar on him? Wendigo has a healing quirk, she helped a lot. Menneki has practice dealing with broken quirks, apparently, and damaged quirks are easier to handle.”

“Hitoshi, please, you need to listen to me!”    
  
The boy flinched away from the hero even though he hadn’t raised his voice. “Why? You’re not my father. You only let me in your home because you thought I was a villain!”    
  
“That’s not true!” Eraserhead moved to stand, but quickly sat back down when the boy scrambled towards the ledge. “I wanted to help you. You really think you’re the first kid to come through my home hating me?”

Hitoshi watched him carefully. “Why would anybody hate you?”   
  
Eraserhead sighed. “Come sit down,” he said, patting the spot on the bench beside him. Hitoshi hesitated but, to the hero’s delight, slowly walked over and sat down. 

“There were others like me?”   
  
“Yes. There’s a lot of children who come to me from a family of villains, or kids who made poor decisions and went down the wrong path. You, to be honest, were one of the easiest kids to ever come to my home.”   
  


Hitoshi’s mouth gaped as he tried to think of something to say.

“I kind of  _ wanted _ you to rebel, though. You do everything your told and lock yourself away in fear if you do something wrong.”   
  
“I’m sorry-”   
  


“Why are you apologizing?” Eraserhead placed a hand on the boy’s hair gently. Hitoshi hadn’t bothered hiding his fluffy hair. With how used to Menneki playing with his hair as he was, the hand on top of his head didn’t startle him. 

“You welcomed me into your home and I betrayed your trust.”   
  
“You did what you had to so you could protect and save an innocent child. I don’t blame you.”

Hitoshi shuffled his feet and stared down at his hands folded in his lap. “This’ll sound cheesy, but you and Mic were the best guardians I’ve ever had. I… Menneki told me that if I decided I wanted to go back to you I could but- I- they need me…”   
  
“Hitoshi, you can come home any time you want. If you’re injured, or scared, or just need a good meal, we’ll welcome you anytime.”   
  
Eraserhead wasn’t one for hugging, but he wasn’t about to push Hitoshi away when the child hugged him.    
  
“Thanks dad.”


	66. See no evil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to post something I drew. It's adrestia.


	67. Paranoia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paranoia is a side effect.

Paranoia isn’t a side effect of battling Totsuao, it’s a side effect of running from the law. Despite the fact that the heroes have said time and time again that they do not have any ill-will towards Phantom and his sidekicks, the kids still worried about being captured. After Jazz had finally figured out that her little brother was the vigilante, she quickly found a way to contact Izuku through Danny’s old computer at home.

With some help from her and, though she didn’t tell them, Nezu, the kids were able to set up homeschooling so they could remain in hiding.

Danny focused on the fundamentals, only taking classes he needed to get into UA with decent scores. Izuku was on the other side of the spectrum and had signed up for any course he thought was interesting. Everything from robotics to english literature filled his days. Sam and Hitoshi sat in the middle, taking the fundamentals, along with a few courses in psychology to help them with their quirks. Menneki didn’t really seem to notice the problem with the classes she’d signed up for.

“How in the world do you expect to do all this in, like, six months?!” Danny waved a list in the girl’s face. She blinked in surprise, but shrugged in response.

“It’s fine, I already know most of it. My father taught me how to build support items when I was young, I’ve been doing it ever since. Just because our middle school was crappy doesn’t mean my education fell through.”   
  
So, with that, the kids started a new schedule. Sam and Hitoshi went by the same name, “Cat”. One of them and Izuku would go out each night. If Danny was feeling up to it, he would go in Izuku’s place while the greenette went to the training section of the beach to haul garbage. They took care to avoid the beach anytime All Might was or could be there, and instead left sticky notes someplace the hero would see (usually under a small stone with a smiley face painted on it in green glow in the dark paint). 

Villain work seemed to have died down after Adrestia started a rampage before while looking for Totsuao, but there were a few thugs here and there causing problems, so it’s not like they were wasting time.

Hitoshi was in charge of bringing any information Menneki or Izuku found to Eraserhead. Menneki was in charge of tutoring anybody having difficulties with homework and keeping up with the housework. Eventually Hitoshi laid claim to the small futon in the animal room, while Sam and Izuku claimed the two bedrooms downstairs in the shelter, with Danny sharing with Sam. they wouldn’t admit it, but everybody knew they liked each other a lot.

Like, a lot a lot.

It took some patience and time, but couches were moved around. Menneki and Hitoshi shared a fold out couch, and most of the furniture was moved from the living area downstairs. Upon Sam’s request, the beach was searched for tables and chairs, all of which were repaired with metal by Menneki. 

So the living area consisted of a couch, a wooden table with mis-matched wooden or plastic chairs, and a bookshelf that was mostly empty and made of recycled trash. 

Sam was the first to take a chance and break back into her family home, returning that night with a credit card and a shit ton of clothing.

They filled the bookshelf with books to go with their studies, plus a ton of clothing to fill their closets with. New lights, real chairs, and a few sticky rollers to get the pet hair off their clothing.

Oh, and a humidifier for downstairs. 

“Ready?” Sam asked everybody. Izuku wanted the night to clear the beach, so he would be working for the next eight or nine hours. Danny nodded and transformed. His eyes still had dark rings that wouldn’t disappear, but his smile was bright. Since his gasmask had been taken, they decided against making him another. It had been to protect his alternate identity but it wasn’t much of a secret anymore.

“Have fun! Be safe!” Menneki was cleaning up the remainder of what she’d made from dinner. Spoiler alert, she can mostly only cook eggs and chicken.

Moments later they were flying through the air. Sam smiled up at Danny. After a few minutes of flying they landed on the top of a building to look over the city. It was were they’d go to take a break.

“Danny, I need to tell you something. I-”

“Sam I love you, and I’m sorry for interrupting you but I really needed to get it off my chest. I’ll understand if you like Menneki more but I just needed you to know-”   
  


“What?”   
  
“Well, yeah, you’re bi. I just figured, she is your type isn’t she?”   
  
“Danny, ugh, you giant idiot, come here.” She pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheek. “I love you too.”   
  
He beamed. “Does that mean you won’t make me sleep on the floor anymore?” 

Sam couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

  
  



	68. Youngblood's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first part is in youngbloods POV.

I like my new home, the family that had been promised to me. I like playing with Wendigo, and big sister Adrestia would bring me toys and clothes every time she came to visit. We played a lot, she taught me how to make my own toys by teaching me the structure of them. I have a lot of nesting dolls that look like my sister Momo.

I miss Momo, and Adrestia said I could go back home anytime but I don’t want to.

Wendigo is goofy, the day she brought me here she painted a black, seven sided star over the nose of her mask. Big sister Adrestia teaches me poetry sometimes, it’s fun because when she rhyms she always starts dancing. Every day was a good day, and everyone treated me nice unlike Totsuao. 

“Ohhhh Youngblood!” Adrestia called. I jumped up from where I was playing on the carpet of my room and ran out. The building we were in was actually a “refurbished warehouse” as big sister called it. There were two floors, a dozen or so bed rooms, and a living area near the entrance. There was a giant kitchen near the living are, and communal bathrooms on each floor. One for each gender, but everybody showered at different times so they could avoid each other anyways.

“Big sis!” I called as I leaned over the railing of the second floor. There was a balcony like thing so you could see the living area and anybody in it. Big sister held up a few bags, along with Wendigo beside her. Two people I didn’t recognize had made there way to the couch and were relaxing on it.

“Come on, I’ve got something for you!” I hurried down the stairs and ran to stand in front of my sister. “Alright, here you go!”   
  
She plopped a bag at my feet. It was the smaller bag, but still exciting. I ripped it open and pulled out a big black pirate captain hat with a green skull and crossbones on it. There was a green seven sided star in the eye socket of it. I set it aside and began pulling out other things excitedly. A leather jacket, nice black boots, and green pants. I got changed despite the fact that there were people in the room. It’s not like it matters, since I had underwear on.

“We’re gonna play pirates, but I need you to do promise me that if I ask you to do something you don’t like you’ll tell me,” big sister had that look on her face when she spoke. It was calm, gentle, but also fiery. That look was the one she used when she wanted you to know she was serious, but that she wasn’t mad or disappointed. Her blind fold was off, making it an even more serious request.

I nodded, then watched as she smiled and waved towards Wendigo to plop the other bags on the ground. “Right then, I want to introduce you to a couple friends of mine. They are rather new, and she’s only joined a couple days ago. This is Techu and Ember.”   
  
Ember had blue hair cut short, but it flared slightly like a fire. I didn’t like her hair, to much like Totsuao’s, but sister liked her so I pushed it aside. The guy beside her had a long black and white coat with the sleeves rolled up. He had a bandana to hide his face, but his arms were showing. He had burns all the way to his wrists that were healed slightly. Probably big sister’s quirk healed him.

“Techu and Ember here are going to take you on pirate adventure, is that alright?” 

I nodded excitedly. Techu and Ember went into the bathrooms on the different floors to change while big sister told me what the adventure was.

“There is a building called ‘Fenton Works’, you three will be stealing something from them.”   
  
“Stealing?” I said quietly. “Why?”   
  
“Because I need something from them, something powerful and dangerous. Like I said, it’s your decision. I won’t make you do something you aren’t comfortable with.”   
  
I took a shaky breath. Why was I worried? Big sister had showed time and time again that she was nicer than Totsuao had been. I wasn’t a slave here. “Okay, what do you want us to steal?”   
  
She smiled before replying. “A weapon they’ve built. It’s called the Fenton Quirk Peeler. It won’t take long, and nobody will get hurt. Techu and Ember has other minor things I’ve asked them to do while they’re there, but they know better than to hurt anybody. Are you alright with this?”   
  
I nodded. Ember was the first to return. She had a pirate hat with a purple rim and skull, along with a purple cape. There was a blue seven sided star in the eye socket of her skull. Her shirt was actually a red corset and her black pants fell over white platform boots. The only thing that didn’t fit into the pirate theme was the electric guitar that Wendigo pulled out of seemingly nowhere and handed her.

Techu returned moments later with an annoyed look. His bandana on his face had been turned up and tied over his head to flatten his hair. Now I could see he also had burn scars across his face and under his eyes as well. He had a white button up shirt under his black coat, with black pants underneath. He carried a pirate hat under his arm and I noticed the skull seemed to have blue flames spewing out of the unhinged jaws and a blue star in the eye socket.

“You put a lot of time into making costumes that we were comfortable in, huh?” Techu asked my big sis, looking at Ember’s outfit. 

  
“Yep! Right, we all know the plan now, right?” Big sis looked around the room at everybody, then at me. She knelt down again and took my hands in hers. “This is your last chance to back out, do you understand?”   
  
I nodded.

“If you say you don’t want to do this, I won’t be angry. You can keep the costume and I’ll keep getting you toys. I promise nothing changes regardless of what happens today.”   
  
I nodded. “I want to help you big sister.”

She smiled gently and pulled me into a hug. “Alright, sweetheart, I suppose we should begin.”

\----------

A song plays over the radio. It’s calm and addictive, and many people have found that it’s useful for meditation.

Eraserhead has walked into the break room at work to find many of his co-workers hovering around a radio to listen to the song. He would always just scoff and ignore the music to instead focus on what was important. His attention would sometimes wonder to the song though. 

“It sounds familiar,” he said when Nezu asked him what he thought of the strange music. Nezu nodded. 

“I believe it is Ember’s doing. It’s the same tune more or less, and the Black Star did break her out of prison only a few days ago. The pieces of her guitar were reported as missing, so it’s safe to assume Seshat is going to reassemble it.”   
  
“So this song, the one every adult in Tokyo and Musutafu is listening to, is actually a brainwashing quirk…” Eraserhead sighed and began messaging the bridge of his nose. “What a headache. How old was Ember again? 18?”

  
Nezu nodded. He had files covering his desk, they were all information on various villains with quirks similar to the imps under Adrestia’s control. The files ranged in size, from only a few pages to a couple inches thick. The largest file was for Wendigo, the girl who left the Phantom Patrol to work for Black Star. She was the only member of the group whose real identity was known. 

Wendigo, age 17, real name is Shiko Hitogami. Her quirk allowed her to copying or steal anybody’s quirk if she consumes their blood or flesh. If she eats the organ that produces the quirk (usually a brain, like some zombie), she can adopt the quirk herself. Abusive homelife, various abusive foster homes, and multiple cases of attempted suicide. After being expelled from UA in her first year, she became a hitman. She was talented, and, at the moment, had more powers under her belt than any villains they had on file.

What’s more unnerving is that Wendigo was supposed to take the young boy that Totsuao had kidnapped someplace safe, but no sign of the child had come up. The Yaoyorozu family has various private detects looking into finding the Black Star and, by extent, the child.

“The only good thing to come out of this is that the kids are willing to work with us to find Wakai Yaoyorozu. He was called ‘Youngblood’ in the circus, I believe.” Nezu picked up a couple files, stacked them up, and motioned to them for Eraserhead to take.


	69. Jekyll and Hyde-ing me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song: jekyll and hyde by bishop briggs
> 
> A raid on fenton works.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used italics for the song lyrics.
> 
> Ps- happy halloween!

Techu’s quirk was blue fire. It burned bright and hot, melting everything from rubber to metal. His order by Adrestia was to burn the Fenton Work’s lab to the point where it couldn’t be used again. 

Wendigo’s quirk allowed her to copy the quirk of anybody she consumed the flesh or blood of. Her order by Adrestia was to take her quirk for the time being. She would be able to regenerate and heal, along with her various other quirks. 

Youngblood can appear invisible to certain people, but that power can be passed to other people for a short time, so his job was to get everybody passed the Fenton family’s security measures. 

Ember’s song blares through the radio on the kitchen table, but kids wouldn’t be affected by it. Speaking of Ember, her order was to sit in the van and be the get away driver. 

The song changes to an English one, something that Adrestia said she would get playing when it was safe. The heroes weren’t coming, there wasn’t anybody in the house. 

*_“Born in the time of love, facing the winds of fate. _

_Storms brewing up above… I was breaking._

_I was begging._

_Just to raise you up-”_

The kids huddled and crossed the dark house to find the entrance of the lab. Right where Adrestia said it would be.

*”- _from the grave of your mistakes._

_Pleasure is a kind of pain, have I had enough?_

_Cause I keep restling with snakes-_

_Sick of all the slippery stuff.”_

They entered the lab, looked around at the various weapons that had been created. There were quirk destroyers, quirk enhancers, various scalpals that were bloodied in different colors.

“I thought she said these guys were inventors?” 

*_”Are you Jekll and Hyde-ing me? Silently?_

_I can’t see in the dark.”_

They found a jar with a pair of eyes in it. They’d been surgically removed. 

_*”Are you Jekyll and Hyde this time? _

_Where’s my mind? _

_I can’t see in the dark.”_

There was blood on one of the tables, set in the center of the room.

*”_Are you Jekyll and Hyde-ing me.”_

Wendigo hurried to grab the quirk peeler while Techu lit the room on fire. Alarms blared and various weapons shot out of the walls to shoot at the kids. A scream echoed in the room.

_*”Did I make it up? _

_I was yesterday’s regret but today I woke up in your bed._

_Have I had enough?_

_Oh have I had enough?_

_Sick of all the slippery, slippery stuff.”_

Wendigo was the first to Youngblood’s side as the ground around him became slick with blood. Techu was quickly throwing fire at the weapons as Wendigo used herself as a sheild to keep the child from being injured further.

*_”Red apple, cherry on your lips._

_Killing me with every kiss.”_

“Wake up, Youngblood! Please, please-” She pulled him into her chest. It was just an arm and leg, that’s all. He’ll be fine.

*”Are you Jekyll and Hyde-ing me? Silently?

I can’t see in the dark. 

Are you Jekyll and Hyde this time?

Where’s my mind?

I can’t sleep in the dark.”

“Get up, we need to go!” Techu bent down and picked up the boy, leaving Wendigo to grab the weapon Adrestia had wanted.

*”_Jekyll and Hyde-ing me._

_Jekyll and Hyde-ing me.”_

For the first time in a long time, Techu wondered if Adrestia had gone insane. Why would she send them to a place as secure as this without telling them?

*”_sweet and then you’re sour, changes by the hour._

_Never know which one I’ll taste._

_Hot and then you’re freezing, different every meeting._

_Baby you drive me insane.”_

The left a trail of blood out of the building and to the car. Ember immediately started driving as Wendigo and Techu hurried to stop the child’s bleeding.

*”_Are you Jekyll and Hyde-ing me? Silently?_

_I can’t see in the dark._

_Are you Jekyll or Hyde this time?_

_Where’s my mind?”_

“It’ll be alright, it’ll be okay sweetheart,” Wendigo hugged the boy to her chest and rocked as he whimpered. It was probably numb by now, and she was trying her best to heal him, but she was powerful or experienced enough to regrow limbs. The most she could do is stop the bleeding and ease his pain.

_*”I can’t sleep in the dark.”_


	70. Poetry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrestia is causing problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I fixed the poem

“Blood was found at the scene,” the detective said. “A lot. There was… a hand… at the scene.”

This wasn’t the detective. It wasn’t Tsukauchi, it was some newbie who looked about ready to throw up. Eraserhead could see why, though, when he saw the limb. It was that of a child’s.

“There are bullet holes in this,” he muttered. The scene at Fenton Works was like a nightmare. The lab had basically exploded, creating a large crater that had brought down the living room and took out the stairs to the upstairs. The blood trail from what had been the lab to the street was concerning enough, not including the fact that the person was obviously a child. Security cameras in the house and lab had been destroyed, and anything that had survived seemed to have disappeared. Somebody probably stole them. 

“We know who did it though,” the hero sighed, looking at the giant black seven sided star painted over the front door. Somebody had the audacity to come back to paint the symbol to claim it as their raid.

“The Black Star…” the newbie shuffled uneasily. “I’ll be honest with you, I really don’t think I’m ready to work a case involving a group like that.”

The hero shook his head, slightly annoyed at the man’s ignorance but not wanting to show it. “You won’t be, the Black Star case is being taken care of by a hero.”

To make matters worse, Stain had broken into Endeavor’s agency the night before and had killed one of the sidekicks. A note said that he’d been going after Endeavor himself.

So now the number two hero was hunting the hero killer, while the hero killer seemingly allied himself with the most dangerous villain group in Japan.

“Damnit,” the hero muttered before pulling his phone out and dialing Hitoshi.

“Hello?” A tired voice asked from the other side. Hitoshi had been patrolling the night before, so it was understandable that he was tired. 

“Endeavor’s agency was attacked last night. One of his sidekicks was killed. There was a gasp and a thump as Hitoshi stood quickly and hurried to put on some pants. Eraserhead’s eye twitched. “Is there anybody else in the room with you?”

“What, no, Menneki’s been gone for nearly a week, said she missed her parents.”

“I need you to tell Danny this, his home was raided by the Black Star last night, too. There was an explosion but nobody was injured.”

“Oh, okay.” there was the sound of pen on paper as Hitoshi quickly wrote some stuff down.

“His parents have been arrested for illegally building weapons in their basement.”

Everything went silent except for a gasp. “Is- what- but they’ve always done that-”

“Their security system was powerful enough to shoot a hand off a child, and we’ve found evidence of human experimentation. There was a jar of eyeballs down there, we’re looking for a match now. As of now, Jazz is living with Nezu at UA.”

“Nezu lives at the- what? That doesn’t… I mean, okay.” There was some more writing. “Anything else?”

“You kids want to come over for dinner tonight?”

There was a long silence. “Um, I’ll… ask the others and text you the answer.”

\-------

Youngblood’s missing his left hand and foot. Adrestia held him in her arms on the uncomfortable cot until he woke up. She’d replaced the limbs with a peg leg and hook, but she’d also made some other fake limbs in case he didn’t like the pirate look any more.

“Cool,” he said, lifting his new hand up and staring at it. Adrestia looked like she was about to cry, but instead she showed him how he could flip the hook so he could shoot projectiles from the nub like a canon. He could do the same with the peg leg, but his balance was less than ideal.

Wendigo wouldn’t admit that the reason she could study with the child now was because she ate his foot.

As requested, the night after the raid she sat in a bar waiting for Eraserhead and Nezu. For once, she brought Youngblood with her. He and Wendigo played pirates, wooden swords drawn and beating against each other. Techu sat behind the counter, watching the heroes with every inch of his body covered besides his eyes. He wore a pirate hat like Youngblood.

*“_Needles and pins, Needles and pins, Sew me a sail to catch me the wind. Sew me a sail strong as the gale, Carpenter, bring out your hammers and nails. Hammers and nails, hammers and nails, Build me a boat to go chasing the whales.”_ Adrestia chanted, face turned towards Nezu when she spoke. The principal’s face was missing its usual smile.

*“_Chasing the whales, sailing the blue. Find me a captain and sign me a crew. Captain and crew, captain and crew, Take me, oh take me anywhere new._ Now, tell me what happened. You used Stain as a diversion, right? Tell me why you targeted the Fenton’s lab.”

The girl’s smile widened slightly. She slowly pulled down part of her blind fold to show a large, gaping hole were her eyes should be. “Those quirk suppressors of theirs works wonders, huh? It’s been almost three days and my regeneration still hasn’t returned. It was supposed to wear off a couple hours ago.”

“Regeneration? I thought you had a healing quirk,” Eraserhead asked, looking anywhere but the holes in the girl’s face. He wanted so badly to ask if the Fenton’s had really done it or if she was framing them, but the answer would probably be some cryptic bullshit she’d tell through a poem. It was obvious she was wearing lots of makeup too.

“Perhaps my healing quirk works on myself? Or, maybe my regeneration can be passed to others?” Her smile faltered for only a second. *”_Who was it that hurt you, Stole the lights from your eyes? Who cut a hole in your heart, and let the love drain dry?_”

*”_Who was so damn careless to leave you with such scars? Where will you find healing, right here within my arms_. I’m guessing Seshat built those fake limbs that Youngblood is wearing?”

“No, I did. Most of our gear is built by me these days.” 

So, another item to add to the “reasons Adrestia is dangerous” list. That isn’t a joke, it’s actually a thing Nezu had started putting together. The list included psychopathy and narcissistic tendencies. 

“Menneki Kohi is missing, do you know where she is?” Nezu asked randomly. The girl’s smile widened.

“Maybe she’d missing her eyes too. I always hated that girl, to nice, to fake. So, heroes, should you really be here? Didn’t Phantom and that Hitoshi boy invite you dinner?”

Eraserhead stiffened. “No, they didn’t.”

“Oh, so you invited them?” She hummed slightly and leaned on her hands, fingers gripping inside of the holes where her eyes should’ve been. “I bet your husband is an amazing cook seeing as you would live on jelly packets if he wasn’t.” 

There was hissed laughter from Wendigo as she overheard what was being said.

“If you met a seven year old version of yourself what would they say?” Nezu asked.

Her smile faded and she clenched her eye sockets so tight they began to bleed. “She would say ‘so it was impossible?’” 

And with that, the girl stood and made her way to the others. *”_Walls have ears, doors have eyes. Trees have voices, beasts tell lies. Beware the rain, beware the snow. Beware the man, you think you know.”_

Silence filled the bar as Adrestia took hold of the child’s arm gently and pulled him into the back room. When it took too long for the heroes to stand and leave, Techu’s hands burst into blue flames as a warning. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Needles and pins needles and pins  
Sew up the carvings youve caused within  
Hammer and nails hammer and nails  
You l can't lock up the coffin you threw me in.


	71. Time for dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrestia you bitch!

“A dinner with some of the most powerful vigilantes in the world.” Nezu said as they arrived at Aizawa’s apartment. They could already smell the food, and, upon entering the house, the mountain of shoes showed that the teenagers had already arrived. Danny, Hitoshi, Sam, and Izuku were all piled into the kid’s bedroom napping. Hitoshi on the top bunk, Sam and Danny on the bottom, and Izuku curled up on the giant teddy bear. Aizawa shut the bedroom door and went to assist Yamada with dinner.

“They must really trust you if they’re sleeping in the next room,” Nezu pointed out. Yamada shrugged.

“Either that or they’re exhausted.”

Somebody shreaked a few minutes later from the bedroom, letting everybody know the kids were awake. 

“Hey, everything okay?” Aizawa asked as he slowly opened the door. He blinked in surprise at the sight of Menneki sitting on Hitoshi’s legs. Everybody looked at the hero with grins. 

“Menneki, I thought you weren’t coming?” The hero asked with narrowed eyes when he saw she was wearing goggles that kept him from seeing her eyes.

“Shinso-chan said you invited us to dinner, and I thought it sounded fun.” She jumped off the bunk and removed her goggles as she slipped past the man and into the living room. Her eyes were fine, except for she squinted from the light. Her shoulder bag bulged awkwardly. “Wow, it smells fantastic in here!”

Nezu looked surprised and a little worried when he saw here.

“Nezu! We met before, I believe, at Izuku’s birthday party? Is something wrong?” She said, smiling happily.

“No, of course not. Pleasure to see you again, Menneki. Hey, I heard a great poem, would you like to hear it?”

“Uh, sure?” She frowned in confusion. 

_*”You told me that you had my back, and I thought that it was true. Now my shadow’s still behind me, but where on earth are you?”_

She blinked a couple times. “Uh, can you translate that? I’m not very good with English.” 

“Do it later, time for food!” Yamada began bringing food from the kitchen to the dining table. A chicken, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and cheesy rice. Menneki jumped excitedly and pulled tins out of her bag. 

“I brought desert cookies!”

Dinner was mostly just filled with the kids answering questions. How have you been? Getting enough food? Are you all healthy? Have you run into the Black Star at all recently?

Any questions towards Menneki was answered in great detail. Where have you been this past week? With my family planning the rebuilding of my cafe! Where are you planning to go for high school? UA! I want to get into the support class or maybe business... Can I participate in both? 

What’s wrong with your eyes? Nothing.

Danny’s tired eyes and sickly look worried the adults, and Yamada would plop more food on the boy’s plate whenever he looked away. They learned that Sam was a vegetarian, and Izuku ate almost only meat. Hitoshi ate a bunch of everything, and he wrapped his free hand around his plate like he was afraid that somebody would steal it. He didn’t stop until Menneki stabbed one of his broccoli and actually did steal it. She thought it was hilarious, and he seemed happy to hear her laugh.

All and all, it seemed everybody was happy, until Adrestia climbed through the window above the couch and grinned at them. Her hair was shinier black, and her eyes were uncovered. Instead, her blind fold sat over her mouth. 

“Well, well, how amusing.” Adrestia’s empty sockets seemed to be healing slightly. Her eyes were beginning to sew themselves back together. “Come here, Menneki Kohi, or somebody will die.”

The villain’s voice was sing-songy as she spoke. She didn’t pull out a weapon or anything, but she made a finger gun motion towards Hitoshi. A second later a bright red dot appeared on his forehead. 

“Come on, come on, we don’t have all day. And they can’t call for backup because then the children will be in danger!”

Adrestia laughed aloud. It was a strange laugh, not quite what Eraserhead and Nezu were used to. Menneki stood and slowly made her way over to the villain with her hands hidden behind her back. She had the butter knife.

“Your quirk was regeneration right?” Menneki asked.

“Yes,” Adrestia replied. Her eyes were almost fully healed now, but the colors weren’t there. Menneki smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. 

“I’m here, don’t hurt them.” 

The villain lowered her hand and made a grab at the girl, only to be stabbed in the chest. She screamed and jumped out of the window. 

“Oh my god,” Menneki whimpered, slumping onto the floor. Hitoshi was by her side in an instant, holding her to his chest while she panicked. “I stabbed her. Oh my god I stabbed her-”

She began hyperventilating, and no amount of soothing could stop her from breaking down in Hitoshi’s arms while they crouched in the corner of a room to avoid snipers.

The dinner could’ve gone better.


	72. Take what you want, give nothing back!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A pirate ship

Stain attacked Endeavor’s agency again. Everybody knew it was some sort of distraction while the Black Star caused trouble elsewhere, but the heroes also knew somebody would get hurt if Stain wasn’t stopped.

A song played on the radio while everybody in the area hurried to fight the hero killer.

“Come on the cruise,” the song was saying. “Come to the cruise.”   
  


So the adults did. Not all the adults, of course, the song only worked on violent people this. People who didn’t care if others suffer, or if the people around them were in pain. You’d be surprised by how many parents ended up on the cruise surrounded by villains. Adrestia took note of any adults who weren’t villains and would make sure to talk to the kids later. Maybe she could recruit some of them?   
  
With the villains tucked safely into the cargo hold, the ship started moving away from Dagobah beech. The shield around it, thanks to Fenton Works, would keep out anybody with a quirk. Thanks to a certain Black Star member’s quirk, they could erase other peoples quirks long enough for them to enter the ship. 

“Where are they?” A voice called. The ship remained invisible to the world thanks to the combined power of Wendigo and Youngblood. It was difficult, and they both already looked about ready to pass out.

“That’s enough! You can let go! They can’t pass through anyways.” Adrestia looked out at the heroes and Phantom. Midnight, Kumai Woods, Eraserhead, and Paradox stood near the docks staring at where the ship should be while a few others looked at the areas nearby. There was a crowd of reporters and civilians waiting for a battle not far behind the heroes. The ship flickered into their sight, and they stared at Adrestia sitting on the railing. 

The pirate ship was a wooden ship with a few modern upgrades to make it faster. A black pirate flag matched the theme. Even Adrestia had donned a pirate themed outfit, including eye patches and a white captain’s hat. She had a black leather jacket and white and black corset underneath. Her black slacks were tucked into black combat boots. Her sword sheath was empty. 

_ “If I can stop one heart from breaking shall not live in vain. If I can ease one life the aching, or cool one pain, or help one fainting robin unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain!” _ Adrestia called to the heroes. She stood up on the railing, raised left hand, and flipped the heroes off. “I do not believe in slavery, but all who sit in my hold are some of the worst of the worst. All of them are monsters who pray on the innocent, and parents who had children only to torment them. Look at me! The villain, the fiend, the monster you tell your children about to make them behave. Now look to my people. Do you not recognize them? Do your not see their face and remember that they were your victims?!”

Many of the “pirates” stood at the railing and stared down at the people. Not a single person wore a mask for once. Many of them were scarred, and a few looked about ready to cry. Two of them in particular caught Eraserhead’s eye. It was Goliath and Elastica, standing side by side and holding onto each other. 

“Everything is about perspective, and no sane person ever believes they are truly evil!”    
  
With that, she lowered her hand and the ship began to move. 

A few of the heroes hurried to use their quirks to try and stop the ship, only to find it didn’t work. 

“That’s the Fenton quirk shield! It’ll block anybody with quirks along with any effects they have!” Danny yelled. He looked to Eraserhead and Kumai Woods. You need to cancel my power and throw me over there.”   
  
“Are you insane? Those villains will rip you to shreds! Also, wouldn’t it be easier for you to just fly over it with other heroes and then I just erase your quirks so you can get through?” 

  
Phantom shrugged and grabbed Kumai and Midnight’s arms. “I can only carry these two, they’re heavier than I’m used to.”   
  
With a loud “hey!” from Midnight and a nod from Eraserhead, the boy raced towards the ship with the heroes. His quirks disappeared and he fell through first, then was joined by the other two. 

“Danny Phantom, your eyes have a speck of blue in them,” Adrestia called. She held her pirates at bay with only her raised arm. The heroes readied themselves, but the way the girl’s smile widened made them falter. “You’ve been touched by madness, yet you stand tall.”

She lowered her arm and all hell broke loose. 

Wendigo was the fastest, and the most practiced with a sword. She jumped around, striking and leaping away before somebody could strike back. A storm blew overhead, keeping any other heroes from entering.

  
“Phantom, how long can you hold your breath for?!” Midnight asked. Kumai Woods darted away, using his wooden arms to make his way to the hull.    
  
“I don’t technically need to breath, but i won’t be able to talk!” the boy called back.

“I’m going to use my quirk then-”   
  


Something smashed into her gut. Wendigo had taken care not to stab her, but did dig her heels into the hero’s stomach. She pirate danced away, moving to let others attack the hero.

  
Eraserhead watched helplessly as the storm covered ship disappeared from sight. They’d called for backup the moment they heard the getaway vehicle was actually a ship, but that only backfired. Merrow, who was more well known as the sea man, had bit chunks out of the coast guards ships as soon as they made a move against the pirates. At the moment, Merrow was circling just outside the range of the storm, leaping out of the water up to a few yards to grab anybody who was trying to get to the ship.

Tengu was also circling just outside the storm, except in the air. He attacked anybody outside of the sea man’s reach.

A voice echoes from a walkie talkie duct taped to a support to the dock. Eraserhead knelt down and ripped it off.

“ _ Danny Phantom- _ ” Eraserhead sucked in a breath at what Adrestia said. She knew the boy’s other identity “- _ your eyes have specks of blue in them. You’ve been touched by madness, yet you stand tall.” _

There was silence for a moment besides the background sounds of a fight. Midnight was shouting something, Danny was shouting back, then loud laughter sounded. It wasn’t Adrestia, it sounded like a child. Youngblood.

_ “Big sister, this is fun! We should play pretend like this more often!” _

_ “Indeed,” _ a gruff voice replied.

_ “Throw them overboard! _ ” Adrestia said loudly. There was a cheer, then the storm opened up slightly. A small dingy was thrown over the side. Eraserhead watched as it rocked precariously, but didn’t tip over. Something began pulling the dingy towards the shore, then stopped.    
  
_ “Eraserhead, hello to you… we’ll be taking off now, but I’m sure you’ll see us again really soon.” _   
  
“NO! Those are people, parents! Why are you doing this?!”   
  
“ _ Because any parents who toture their children deserve this, and anybody who beats people to death for fun don’t have a place in our world. *’What is more unfair than having to choose between being a monster or a hero?’” _

There was a crackling sound, then the pieces of the walkie talkie in the hero’s hand began falling apart, pulled towards where the ship was. Eventually there was nothing left but a rubber button.


	73. Valerie Grey and where she stands.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief summary of what Valerie's been up to.

Valerie had been hunting Phantom for a long time. She’d wanted so badly for others to see how he’d wronged her family, she didn’t even stop for a moment to ask why he’d done it. When she saw on the news that he’d gone bad, she didn’t even question it.

_ “Now they’ll all see what I saw from the beginning.” _

But her joy was short lived, because then she found out that the boy was being brainwashed. They were all hurrying to snap him out of it because he was fighting against his order. He avoided killing people despite the fact that it could easily break his mind and quirks.

_ “If he’s the good guy, what does that make me?” _

She started working on research, trying to help in any way she could. At some point she made contact with somebody who called herself “Sheep” who claimed she was working with Cat and Jackrabbit. The truce wasn’t supposed to last long, but Valerie found herself working with Sheep more and more. Even a couple weeks after Phantom was freed, they still talked about higher up villains and how best to take them down. 

A couple days ago a group called the Black Star kidnapped a couple dozen villains, and nobody has seen them since. Valerie wanted to hate the group, but one of the people taken was somebody she didn’t particularly like. 

_ “If she can do that to her child and not be sent to prison, maybe Adrestia will make sure she gets what she deserves.” _

Valerie wants to hate the Black Star, but they were the only ones willing to punish her mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized today that if you all went back and read the chapter about the yakuza and mennekis family quirks you would be able to figure put who adrestia really was.


	74. Dadzawa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I got bored, tbh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its September know I think.

Six of the ten unknown members of Black Star had finally been identified. Kappa’s real name was Shuichi Iguchi, he was 29 and had run away from his foster home at fifteen. He was basically raised on the streets. Obaka and Bakemomo twins at the age of 20. Their real names were Gin and Gorudo Kitsune. They had also been orphans who raised themselves on the streets after running away. Pooka’s real name was Osore Kanashimi, age 22. She had villainous parents. The last two were siblings, Raijin and Fujin, ages 22 and 19. Their real names were Mizu and Kuki Soshimageru. They were from the Elementals family, and their father was actually a hero at one point, but was arrested and forced to retire when his abuse came to light.

Eraserhead read over the files, finding one thing in particular to be common. All of the people were what you’d call broken. They were in need of a home, and Adrestia or her parents had given them one. Twisted everything to seem like they were doing good even when they were robbing banks or kidnapping people. 

“So Danny is really alright?” The hero asked through the phone. A groan came from the other end. 

“Yes, dad, he’s fine. How many times do I have to tell you?” Hitoshi was currently playing nurse, it seemed, because he’d said earlier he was running around taking care of the others. Sam had gone to help with Stain, while Izuku was caught up fighting Fuko and Kitty in some alleyway. The Black Star had wanted the trio split up, so they were.

“Where were you during all this?”

“We all agreed that if there’s any trouble somebody should always stay behind as backup or something. I volunteered, so I stayed. It’s supposed to be Menneki but she was out getting groceries.”

“What are you guys doing for dinner tonight?”

Hitoshi hummed in thought. “None of us really know how to cook, to be honest, but Menneki’s been building a fire pit outside so we’re practicing.”

“That didn’t answer my question.”

“Cereal. We’re gonna have cereal, but with ice cream instead of milk.”

The hero face palmed. “I should’ve known. You can’t even order food? Go to a restaurant?”

“Danny’s paranoid a hero will try to arrest us. But hey, he’s probably right.” Hitoshi laughed, but it sounded half-hearted.

“Come over, we’ll order pizzas. You like pizzas right?”

There was some silence as Hitoshi tried to decide if it was a trap or not. “We’ll bring Menneki, she’ll be able to cancel people’s quirks if it’s a trap.”

“It’s not a trap kid.”

“Alright, we’ll be over there soon. Hopefully it’ll end better than last time.”

The boy hung up and Eraserhead hurried to let Yamada know and order a few pizzas. It wasn’t that late, so they shouldn’t have to wait that long. Oddly enough, the food arrived before the kids, and soon three large pizzas sat at the dining room table. The bell rang and Yamada jumped out of his seat to answer it.

“Heya kids!” He said excitedly at them. Izuku had a black eye and bruised cheek, while the others looked fine. However, he was also the happiest looking. 

“Hi Present Mic!” Izuku waved and trotted in happily when he was waved inside the home. Everybody else eyed the room suspiciously (“everybody” being Sam, Danny, and Hitoshi. Menneki wasn’t there, not that anybody blamed her). 

Dinner went along without any problems, and information was shared about what Danny saw on the ship, and the similarities between Stain’s fighting style and Wendigo. 

Eventually, as everybody finished their food, Aizawa tried to think of something to say to keep them from leaving. He wasn’t planning a trick or a trap, he was just tired of seeing them get hurt. 

“You can stay here if you want. We have beds, and you obviously don’t mind sharing. There’s a guest bedroom, even, if one of you want to use that.”

The kids seemed thankful, but shook their heads in refusal. 


	75. Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wish I may I wish I might.
> 
> May I have this wish tonight?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for all the short chapters recently. I was trying to set things up for one of the best ideas I've had for a while.

The trio needed a break from all the villain catching and Black Star stalking they’ve been doing, so they decided to spend the weekend like normal teens. No vigilante work, no hero dodging, no hiding. Well, no hiding besides the costumes Menneki had put them in. Izuku had his hair dyed black and wore red contacts. His outfit was mostly a dark green hoodie and jeans. Danny had his hair painted like last time with the circus, white with various colors chalked into it. He had a Danny Phantom sweatshirt, which was a new merch thing that was most likely illegal. Sam had her hair down and curled slightly, but the most notable change were the clothes she chose. It was a yellow flowery crop top with pale bell bottom jeans. Colorful bracelets sat on her wrists. She did not look happy with the style change, but it was her idea so the only person she could be mad at was herself.

They were off, leaving Hitoshi and Menneki to set up the new (it was recovered and refurbished junk) tv and watch a movie or something.

“We should go to the movie, or the mall, or both!” Izuku said excitedly. They walked through own like they used to, looking at stores and their old school. They passed by the place that had once been the cafe, only to find it was being rebuilt again. It was almost finished, actually, but they couldn’t tell exactly what it was.

“You think we’ll ever get everything back to normal?” Danny asked suddenly as they walked near his old home. He stared at the now- abandoned home. The door was gone, and the entryway was burned slightly. Police tape marked off the area at one point, but it was all ripped down and left on the ground. It was a sign that somebody went inside, which was probably since most of Danny and his parents’ belongings were still inside. 

“It’ll get better. I mean, just give it time, stuff will sort itself out.” Sam took his hand in her hand as they walked, causing him to blush. “It’ll be okay.”

When they finally arrived at the theater, Danny stared up at the stars. They were brighter than usual, especially for the heart of the city. At Dagobah the stars were really bright, but this was its own sort of beautiful.

“I wish…” he started, gripping Sam’s hand tightly. “I wish I had never gotten these powers.”

He started to cry, but startled to a stop when a woman’s voice echoed around them.

“Your wish is my command.”


	76. What's my name?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny's forgotten something, but so has everybody else.

Danny groaned at the sound of his alarm clock blearing in his ear. He needed to meet with Izuku and Sam for that project they had due soon. His parents were in the lab while he was getting ready for the meeting, but that was normal. He could disappear and they probably wouldn’t notice until his body was fished from a creek or something. Jazz was at the table, reading aloud under her breath about the history of psychology. 

He was out the door before anybody could realize it was Saturday and he wasn’t needed elsewhere.

“Hey Sam!” He said as he entered the cafe they liked to meet at.    
  
“Hey Danny!” Sam replied, calling him over to their both. Izuku sat across from her, working on a crossword puzzle. Izuku munched on a cookie with All Might’s face on it, purposely working around the bunny ears.

“What can I get you?” The server girl asked. Danny glanced up at her to see she was wearing bright clothes and cat ears. Her name tag was blank except for a cartoon cat sticker.

“Uh, iced chocolate delight? And one of those All Might cookies please.”   
  
She nodded and left them there. It was neary winter now, so the air was getting brisk. Some of the leaves on the trees had already begun falling, but Danny felt like this was wrong. Like he was forgetting something.

“I feel like I’m forgetting something,” he mumbled. A different server came and set a drink down in front of him. Danny looked up at the boy. He had purple hair spiked up in every direction and was wearing a school uniform. What really caught his attention was the boy’s bruised eye and a split lip, not to mention how pale and skinny the boy was.

“Iced Chocolate Delight? And an All Might cookie.”   
  
The purple haired boy left before Danny could even look at his name tag.

“Say, you guys, we should go down to Dagobah beech today,” Danny said on a whim. He didn’t even know where that was, but the name sounded so familiar. 

“Dagobah, where’s that?” Sam asked, looking over to Izuku.   
  
Izuku shrugged, then resumed munching on his cookie.

A dark haired man skulked past them to the bar to order a to-go drink. His white scarf looked dirty and Danny could’ve sworn he saw a spot of blood on it.    
  
*”Your information was wrong,” the man said to the server girl in english.    
  
*”Was I wrong? Or were you just to slow?”

The man pointed to her, then to the door behind the bar that probably went to a storage area. They both disappeared behind closed doors. The purple haired boy caught Danny’s eyes and glared. 

“You shouldn’t eavesdrop.” With him close and facing the trio, Danny could see his name tag said “Menneki Shinso.”

“You’re the girl’s brother?” Izuku asked, confused.

“I was adopted by them, so yes.”   
  
He trudged up to the bar to help a customer, leaving the trio to finish their drinks and leave. They did head to the beech, staring out at a place similar to a trash heap. Danny shook his head. 

  
“This isn’t right, this shouldn’t be so…”

“Filthy? Messy? Disgusting? A mess caused by humans that nobody’s even  _ attempted _ to clean up?” Sam gripped the railing until her knuckles turned white. “Yes.”

“I was going to say wrong, but that works too.” Danny sighed and turned away. “Come on, let’s go to my place. Sorry for dragging you all the way out here.”   
  
Danny didn’t want to admit that the reason he never wants to be home while either they or his older sister was gone is because then he has to deal with his parents’ experiments. They would never hurt him, of course… at least not on purpose.    
  
“Is anybody even here?” Izuku asked. There were no sounds echoing up from the dark lab, and Jazz’s room was empty as they walked past.

“I guess not.”

\------

Danny tried to remember every villain he’s even met. There was Spectra, who succeeded in killing two students before being chased off by some heroes, Ember, who nearly enslaved the world, and a bald guy who released a gaggle of geese in the mall. That last one doesn’t really count though.

“This shouldn’t have happened,” Danny said to nobody in particular. He sat in the cafe alone that night, looking over old newspaper reports. A few in particular pop out at him.

_ ‘Villain Spectra murders student in Pep Assembly!’ ‘Ember takes control of teens from high school to attack adults, 17 injured, 3 killed.’ ‘Hero Killer murders Paradox, 18 year old hero intern.’ _

Out of all the reports, one in particular nearly made the boy cry.

_ ‘Axon Labs shut down after conducting quirk experiments on humans!’ _

“Why do you say that?” A voice said behind his seat. The boy startled and turned towards the girl. It was the server girl who dressed in bright clothes. She smiled at him, but he only noticed the thin silver scars in the corner of her eyes.

“I-I just feel like… somethings wrong. I don’t know how to explain it other than saying, something’s off.”   
  
Her smile fell. “Yes, I understand. Even this shop is weird, isn’t it? It’s almost like something small changed, and everything else was affected by it?”   
  
“Yes, actually. How did you know?”   
  
She pursed her lips. “Do you know my name?”   
  
“No, should I?”   
  
“What a shame,” she mumbled before turning away. “You don’t know who I am unless you need me.”   
  
She returned to her place behind the counter while the boy pondered what she’d said. After a few more minutes of looking through files ( _ ‘Teen boy attacked by sludge villain! Saved by All Might!’ _ ) Danny left the cafe behind.

“Something’s very wrong,” he choked out as he saw a familiar looking hero make his way to the cafe. The boy stopped the man. “Please, tell me your name?”   
  
The hero blinked in surprise before narrowing his eyes at him. “Eraserhead, why do you ask?”   
  
“I’ve forgotten something…”    
  


Danny must’ve looked pitiful because the hero’s expression turned to something similar to worry. “What did you forget, kid, I can help you.”   
  
“I’ve forgotten… my name.”   
  
Danny turned and ran off in a panic, ignoring the hero calling after him. Eraserhead would’ve chased after him if the server girl hadn’t stopped him.


	77. Phantom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny tries to get his memories back.

Danny covered his face as an explosion erupted. Bakugou didn’t bully people where others could see, but he didn’t let up in the back of the school. Burn after burn covered Danny’s arms until the smell of flesh and blood filled the air. With another kick to the boy’s gut, Danny was sent stumbling backwards into the koi pond. Bakugou and his followers ran off just as a teacher rounded the corner.

“Daniel, what are you doing in the pond!”  
  
Danny felt the urge to throw up at the sound of his full first name, but he swallowed it down to instead glare at his homeroom teacher. “You think I meant to end up in there? And what about these burns, you think I did that on purpose?”   
  
“Let me guess, you’re going to try and blame Bakugou again? What did I tell you last time?!”   
  
“I don’t remember, just like I don’t remember your name-” Danny stepped out of the pond “-or the year-” he grabbed his back “-or the reason my parents decided me being quirkless was a good reason for them to use me as a test subject.”   
  
The boy stared deep into the teacher’s as the adult tried to think of what to say. 

“But most of all, I can’t remember… why my name sounds so disgusting.” The boy turned and walked away, muttering to himself. “And why it doesn’t seem _real_.”

So yeah, Danny had problems. He had problems with his memories, which seemed to be mixed between fantasies of him fighting villains and him running away from villains. He wanted to be happy, but every night he found himself in the lab, hooked up to machines while his parents tried to find a cure to quirklessness, he wondered if things would be better if he was in that fantasy world he dreamt about. Today in particular was bad.

“I’m just going to give you a little shock, alright sweetheart?”   
  
His mother held up a crackling taser and he lost it. He screamed and pulled his arm away from the machines he was hooked up to. A needle ripped from his arm, tearing the skin and causing it to bleed. He just screamed and began throwing things at his mother while she tried to calm him down.

Things didn’t settle until Jazz came downstairs, eyes sunken and hair in disarray. “What’s going on?! I’m trying to study!”  
  
“Jazz, Jazz I need you-”   
  
She glared at him, but her eyes slowly softened when she saw his arm and the white gown they’d replaced his shirt with. “Come on, little brother, Nezu can help.”

Nezu? Oh, right, Jazz started interning with him after some poor kid died in her place at the assembly. 

Jazz handed Danny a helmet and waited for him to climb onto her motorcycle before driving them to UA. Danny felt the urge to puke. Why did his sister have a motorcycle? And why was it so familiar in a way that made him shake in fear? They arrived at the school and the sight of a familiar hero walking into the entrance made the boy catch his breath.

“Aizawa?”  
  
He must’ve blacked out, because he woke up on a cot with people around him whispering urgently. 

“Danny? Danny can you hear me?!” Jazz cried as he opened his eyes suddenly.

“Yes I can, please stop yelling,” he muttered as she threw her arms around him in an awkward hug. “Where am I?”  
  
“You’re in the infirmary room? I thought for sure you’d recognize it with how often you end up here.” She gave a small smile. “You’re always getting hurt at school. Clumsy.”   
  
Danny glared at her. “I can assure you Bakugou does this on purpose. I thought you knew I was being bullied?”   
  
She paled. “No, I didn’t. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Danny threw the blanket off and stood up. “I need help, where’s Menneki?”  
  
Menneki, Menneki… that name sounded so familiar. Eraserhead seemed to think so, since his eyes narrowed as he stepped towards the boy. He moved to push Danny back on the bed since he was swaying where he stood.

“Menneki? Is that the name of the girl at that coffee shop you always go to?”  
  
“What? Maybe, I don’t know, her name tag doesn’t have her name on it.” Danny put a hand on his head, only to pull it away when he realized he had a fever. “I told her something was wrong, she agreed but refused to tell me what it was.”   
  
“Can you tell us what is happening?” Nezu asked from his spot at the foot of the bed. Danny startled, but just searched the principle for a second.

“I’ve forgotten something, but I don’t know what. It’s like it’s an important event, and everything seems off because of it.” He rubbed his temples and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Can you tell me any odd memories you might have?” Nezu asked. Jazz’s eyes snapped to him.

“You don’t think… a memory erasing quirk?” She whispered.  
  
“Something of the sort. Danny, please, tell us what you can.”

“I-I remember… Eraserhead’s real name, and that server girl is so familiar. It seems weird to me that I don’t have a quirk. It’s like I _know_ I should have one, but I also _know_ I shouldn’t. And, Dagobah beech, why is it so dirty? I thought we had been cleaning up the beech but there wasn’t even a dent in it?”  
  
They talked for a while, mostly the heroes and Jazz trying to jog whatever memory he had lost, but it didn’t help. If anything, when they tried to help it just made the memory sink further into the back of his mind. He waved them off and left on his own to walk home. Or, at least that’s what he said he was doing.

“Menneki Kohi,” he said, leaning into the bar. He stared into her surprised eyes. “I remember you. At least, some of you. Your quirk nullifies quirks, both their effect on you and sometimes even cancel them out. We were friends… or we are… I’m not sure.”  
  
She slowly smiled. “Danny Fenton, age fifteen. You love the stars and want to be an astronomer. However, you decided you wanted to be a hero after gaining quirks.”   
  


Danny blinked in surprise. It didn’t sound wrong, in fact he thought felt deep in his mind that it was completely true. “What happened, why can’t I remember it?”  
  
“You must’ve altered something, and I can’t help you with it.”   
  
The bell at the door chimed as Eraserhead walked in. Menneki slid a paper over to the boy with a smile before waving him out to help the hero instead. 

Inside were instructions. 

_Step one, have all your friends meet you in your parents’ lab when you three can be alone. _

_Step two, move the switches so they are on 1 and 3. _

_Step three, put on your jumpsuit and make sure you don’t have any jewelry on._

_Step four, go inside the machine, there should be a button inside._

_Step five, press the button._

Danny followed the instructions without a word of argument. He stared at the green button for a moment before closing his eyes and pressing it.

His screams echoed through the lab, both from the pain of the electrocution and his fear of it. There were shouts outside from his friends until Izuku was able to switch one of the levers off.

“Danny?! Danny what-” Sam gasped as Danny stumbled out and fell to the ground shaking.

“Phantom, it’s Phantom,” he said. He looked up at his friends from where he was kneeling on his hands and knees. “And we were vigilantes.”


	78. theater

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A choice needs to be made, but everybody knows Danny is selfless to a fault.

Danny was trapped between two decisions. On one hand, he could decide to not be a vigilante, lie to his friends and say his power is just transforming into a slightly different look. On the other hand, people had _died_ because he wasn’t there. He had an obligation to help people because of his power, but he was still a kid.

He didn’t want power.

The doorbell rang, and a couple seconds later Menneki was strolling down the steps with the purple haired boy behind her. Hitoshi Shinso.

“Danny, who was it that erased your memory?” She asked as she knelt down near where he was sitting. She gave him a chunk of fudge and a water bottle. He took a bite before answering.

“We were heading to the movie and somebody attacked us.”

Menneki raised an eyebrow. “Sure… anywho, do you know what they looked like? Maybe their quirk?”

He shook his head. “I know it was a woman.”

Menneki grinned. “Well, then we should probably go find her, huh?”

So they did, just like that. It was simple, fast, and Hitoshi stuck to the back and followed them. He looked worse and his eyes darted around like somebody was going to jump out and attack at any moment. They made their way to the theatre and sat on a bench waiting. 

“So, tell us about this… other world?” Sam asked. Izuku perked up, excitement evident in his eyes. He pulled out a notebook and readied himself to write everything down. Danny sighed.

“Last year there was an accident in the lab. We became vigilantes and I worked to stop a lot of criminals. However, it led to a villain named Freakshow brainwashing me and forcing me to do villainous deeds. We went into hiding, and stayed there. It was getting to be too much, especially after my parents were arrested, so I said I wished I’d never gotten my powers.”

Everybody sighed, then Sam popped up. “Wait, if a wish brought her to you, why don’t we just use it against her? Look, everybody say a wish, then maybe she’ll come to us?”

Everybody nodded before blurting out their wishes one after another.

_“I wish I had a tablet_,” Izuku said, fingers crossed.

_“I wish I didn’t have such asshole foster parents,_” Hitoshi sighed. He’d lied about being adopted by the Menneki household.

_“I wish my parents would stop trying to fit me into colorful clothing,_” Sam grumbled.

_“I wish… that I could be a hero,_” Menneki said, lip trembling.

Danny was last, and he tipped his head towards the sky with his eyes closed_. “I wish I was happy._”

“Your wishes are my command,” a voice echoed. It was soft and calm. They all looked towards an alleyway across the streets to see a woman with green skin and long black hair. She was grinning, red eyes watching them as she raised her hands. A bright light shot towards them, enveloping the kids. The light bounced off Menneki, who gave a look like she was about to cry.

“Fuck you, who even are you?!” Hitoshi yelled.

“I am Desiree, you idiot-” her eyes blanked out.

“Idiot? Pretty sure you’re the idiot. Menneki?” Hitoshi kept his quirk up while the kids tried to figure out what to do.

“Let her go, then Danny will say ‘_I wish I hadn’t made a wish_’, okay?”

Danny shuffled on his feet. He didn’t want to. He wanted to go home and hug his sister and stare up at the stars on his bedroom ceiling. He wanted to tell Nezu and Eraserhead about his power and learn to be a hero rather than a vigilante.

He wanted to be able to go outside without a costume and not be worried he was going to be arrested.

Sam took his hand, and smiled at him. “Do what you must.”

Danny was about to refuse, but then he remembered the reports. Jazz from the original timeline had started training at UA because she didn’t want people to get hurt, in this world she trained because somebody had.

“People died because I couldn’t help,” he whispered. He sighed and nodded. Hitoshi released his quirk, and Danny immediately yelled across the street to the woman. “I wish I had never made a wish!”

She screeched and Danny felt himself being pulled in every direction. Things spun, and he felt the urge to throw up. Sam and Izuku remained by his side, but Menneki and Hitoshi disappeared. 

“You- you can’t-! No!” the villain yelled. Instead of charging them, though, she wiped some blood from her nose and ran away. 

“Quirk shock,” Izuku muttered as he helped support Danny. “You still want to go to the movie?”

Danny smiled, “Yes, I do.”

“You know, we technically all got what we wished for? My parents aren’t trying to get me to change my appearance because they aren’t here, Izuku has a tablet, and Hitoshi’s parents are the kindest people in the world.” Sam looked to Danny’s grin and returned it. “And, even if it changes in a few hours or days, you’re happy now, and that’s all that really matters at the moment.”

Danny snorted. “You forgot about Menneki, she wanted to be a hero.”

Izuku shrugged at that one. “Is she not already?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The kids kept their memories only because of Menneki kept the wish from affecting them to much. Hitoshi doesnt really remember.


	79. Not a chapter.

I'm thinling I'm going to take a break from writing for q while. Ill post sometimes, maybe a couple times a week, but I need to slow down and plot out my chapters better.

Have a nice day!


	80. The clock tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short thing so you all know what's coming

Desiree caused lots of troubles. Alternate Universes were products of people with powers like her’s. The ability to alter the world as a whole. A few of them in particular were bad.    
  
A man sits in a stone tower, far from the rest of society. He goes by many names, but his favorite was Clockwork. He wears a long purple trench coat with a hood. Underneath is a violet shirt and jeans. He carries a staff with a clock at the end, a support item he’s used for years while regulating the people who alter the universe.

Clockwork

  * Age- unknown.

  * Quirk- time. He protects the universe from idiots who don’t know the repercussions of their quirks. Exists outside of time and space in his tower.

  * Support item built in the future of an alternate universe with the help of a hyper young lady. The medallions were created by somebody else.

  * Unlike the OG show, Clockwork doesn’t change form unless he wants to. He is able to appear as any age, but prefers the late teens.


	81. Time tables

The cafe is back. Hitoshi and Menneki work there, while a study group forms in the back storage room. They enjoy being out in the day- light, and only a few selected heroes knew they ran the place. Oh, and Jazz.

“Your future is not carved in stone you know.” Jazz was writing furiously on a chalkboard in the back room. Well, can’t really call it a chalkboard, more like a section of the wall that Menneki painted with a strange black paint. It worked well enough so nobody complained.

“Wait, wait, what’s the definition of an algebraic equation again?” Hitoshi sked. He was on break for the third time this hour. Nobody seemed to care, though, since Menneki was perfectly fine running the shop on her own.

Jazz groaned, but quickly composed herself to explain it again. She wrote quickly as she spoke. “An algebraic equation is an equation obtained by equating to zero a sum of a finite number of terms each one of which is a product of positive integral powers- including the zero power- of the variables.”

Everybody stared as she returned to tutoring them in algebra. She began writing in neat, flawless handwriting an equation none of them could hope to solve. She noticed their expressions, erased the question, and put an easier on in its place. x/5+7=-3.

“Solve for X,” she said, stepping back and watching the kids patiently.

Danny pointed shyly. “Uh, subtract 7 from both sides?”   
  
Jazz beamed and quickly wrote that down. Izuku raised his hand next.

“Then you multiply both sides by five, which cancels the division and makes X=50!”   
  


Jazz clapped and wrote it down. “You’re all doing well, but some of you, and I won’t say names-” Danny, Sam, and Hitoshi “-are actually a bit behind. That's not your fault really, since you’ve actually gotten better since you started homeschooling. Look, okay, December is here, so you need to take those tests.”

Confused looks ensue.

“You know, the tests! What are they called again? The Homeschool Aptitude Test? H.A.T is a new testing thing they started a few years ago to ensure that students not attending traditional schools are keeping up with their studies. Since none of you have mental disabilities or are being weighed down by your quirks, you have to take them. If you fail… I’m not entirely sure there's a punishment, most parents just get their child a tutor or something. I can honestly say, though, that you won’t be able to get into UA.”   
  
The kids watched as she grabbed her duffel bag and emptied the contents onto her desk. By “desk” I mean a cheap folding table with a chair at it. Menneki had provided it along with some notebooks, a section of a shelf, and a cup full of pencils, pens, and chalk. Now, a pile of books and paper packets fell on it in a wobbly pile.

“Sample HATs and books to help you study,” Jazz waved towards them tiredly. She suddenly looked like she had aged a few years.

Minutes later Jazz was hovering over her little brother’s shoulder. He moved to mark an ‘A’ only to stop when she let out an “Uhhh…” and lifted her finger in warning. She winced when he began marking the ‘B’ instead. “But-”

Danny moves to mark a different answer, then threw his arms up when she let out a whine. “Okay! I get it, you’re brilliant, I’m an idiot, and I’ll never pass this fucking test! I’ll never get into UA,. So far i’m not even qualified to scrape gum off the bottom of the cafe tables.”   
  


He stared down at his empty sample answer sheet, then flicks his pencil away while everybody stared at him.

“I just want you to succeed, Danny. Doing well on this test can help. Come on, you know a lot about science, right?” She began to hastily flip the pages of the sample test before stepping back to hover again. He sighed, looking resigned to failing, then his eyes widened. He understood the material.

The sample test’s science section was a mixture of plant and animal biology, quirk studies, and earth science, all of which he knew. Earth science was a little difficult, but who doesn’t know how a volcano works.

Hitoshi, that’s who.

\-------

“Time out!” A voice said. Everything freezes, except for a startled Menneki. 

“What? How- Why?!” She stiffens for a moment, then grins, pulling out a glitter pen and writing  *Asshole on the forehead of a rude customer. 

Clockwork waves his hand and appears in the backroom. With another wave of his hand he brings a young girl to his side and drops a medallion over her head.

“Huh, what? Where am I?”   
  
“Bento Box-” that of course wasn’t the ten year old’s real name, but he continued “-you’re in Musutafu, years before you were born. That boy there-” he pointed to Danny “-is Phantom.”

The girl’s eyes widened in excitement, then darkened as she remembered something.

“I believe he is a bit of a threat and would like to keep him from destroying the world. Would you be a dear and dance a little dance for me?”   
  
Bento Box nodded, eyes still on Danny. Clockwork patted her head before saying “Time in!” and disappearing.

Everybody gasped at the sight of the girl. She had black hair in pigtails sticking out of her pastel pink hat with a matching shirt. She wore jean overalls with the large gear medallion hanging over it. The most notable thing was the way she glared and Danny.

“Gah, who are you?!” Jazz yelped, backing away as Danny shot up out of his seat and transformed.

“I am Bento Box! Daughter of the Box Man and Lunch Lady! Beware!”   
  
“Um, ew,” Sam muttered. She couldn’t find a way to be scared of the little girl.

“And now you will face the test of my Box-and- Lunch doom!” She raised her hands and activated her quirk, telekinesis like her father. The cabinets and shelves began rattling before spitting out all the contents. Various foods and ingredients began circling around her. “Beware!”

Everything fell to the ground with a thud as Menneki appeared in the doorway, obviously annoyed and tired from canceling somebody’s quirk from a distance. Then, without warning, the child vanished from sight.


	82. Dancing shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> there's something playing with the lights...
> 
> and their minds

Clockwork watched from his portal windows as Danny continued trying to study. For some strange reason, Jazz had made Mr. Lancer, one of Danny’s favorite teachers, as the one to give Danny the test. Of course, Danny wasn’t the only on taking it, it’s just that he was the most important at the moment. 

Bento Box snuck into the cafe again that night when Jazz had left and Menneki was out getting groceries.

“Hello Danny!” A familiar voice said, and the boy spun around grinning.

“Mr. Lancer!”

“I didn’t expect you to be here! This coffee shop was always my favorite place to go before heading home.” It was nearly 7 at night, making the kids wonder just how much work teachers had. “And, Menneki likes poetry, we often share our findings with each other.”

Danny was more concerned with the briefcase handcuffed to the man’s hand. “What’s that?”

“Oh! The answers to the HATs. I’m the proctor for this semester and district. Shouldn’t you all be studying?”

Danny shrugged nonchalantly, but his eyes were dark and tired. “We’ve been studying all day, and yesterday… and the day before that.”

The chairs began to rattle before lifting into the air.

“Mr. Lancer look out!” Danny tackled the man to the ground before he could be injured by the flying furniture. He changed form, earning a loud gasp from the teacher. “Izuku, get him outta here! Sam, go with them and try to connect Menneki and tell her to come back! Hitoshi… stay alive?”

Hitoshi smirked, “bold of you to assume I want to.”

“I don’t get it,” a child’s voice echoed through the shop. It wasn’t Bento Box, it was a smaller child with mint green hair braided back with a black bandana over her head. She wore a jean jacket with a Black Star patch on the chest pocket. The shadows seemed to dance around her, especially at her feet.

“Who are you?” Hitoshi asked. The little girl leaned back and disappeared into a shadow on the wall, which seemed to turn pitch black in her presence.

She fell out of a shadow over the bar and landed on it in a crouch with Bento Box beside her.

“Who are you?!” Danny yelled, annoyed by the sight of the symbol on the girl’s jacket.

“Hecate, daughter of Fuko and Kitty Fumikage! However, you can call me Shadowdancer, like my big sister.”

Bento Box clenched her fists and all the lights exploded, sending them all into darkness besides the slight moonlight slipping through the windows. Shadowdancer reached towards them, expanding her own shadow across the floor and stopping under their feet.

“What’s going on?” Hitoshi yelped when he realized he couldn’t move his feet. His mind remained untouched, unlike Danny, who filled the chat with static.

“_She must have some possession quirk like her mother_.” Sam groaned through the chat. 

The door flung open and Menneki ran in. Shadowdancer’s eyes widened and she immediately grabbed Bento and fell backwards back into the shadows. She dropped a small medallion on her way out, which Menneki grabbed. The possession lifted and the kids were left to wonder about what happened. Danny stared at a file in his hand that he’d accidentally stolen from Lancer.

“Oh shit! Is this the HAT answer sheet?” Hitoshi whispered.

“Yes, yes it is.”

“He’ll make the right choice now,” Clockwork said with a smile of relief. He was watching Danny through his window with the two children by his side. They were waiting patiently to be sent back home. “Nothing could go wrong-”

“Hello great future!” The boy said, excitedly holding the packet up.

“You’re not actually gonna peek, right?” Sam asked.

“Of course I am.” He turned back to his normal form, still smiling. “You wanna look too?”

Clockwork scowled at the boy, who yawned and leaned over like he was going to fall asleep right then and there.

“Idiot boy, why can’t you by more like Izuku or Sam, maybe even Shinso.” Hitoshi came forth and tried to open the packet. “Okay, just Sam or Izuku.”

Clockwork waved his hand, bringing in another villain. This one was slightly older, about the same age as the Phantom Patrol. He had neon green hair that fell over his right eye, with the left side shaved. A long, black leather coat was left unbuttoned, showing his ches t and stomach. His left ear was pierced and the earring was a golden loop. The thing that gave away who he was were the left hook had and a long metal spike where his left leg should’ve been.

“You must be Clockwork huh?” Youngblood asked, smirking. He began tipping the tip of his peg leg against the floor lightly. The clicking echoed through the room. He put a hand to his bare chest, ready to pull out a weapon if attacked. His chest was tattooed with the Black Star, and anything he created was marked with the symbol.

Clockwork stepped out of the way of the window to let the boy see Menneki on the screen. 

“Big sister? She looks… happy.” Youngblood stepped forward to watch as she laughed and use a broom like a sward.

“Menneki, not Adrestia.”

“Oh, uh, right.” The teen shuffled awkwardly and waited. “Um, can you just tell me what you want? I need to get back and help babysit Shinso.”

Clockwork blinked, trying to remember which one he was talking about.

“Alright, here’s the plan-”

The boy listened intently, not noticing the window changing to show the future. Gas barrels sat in the center of a ruined cafe, each with a person gagged and tight to it. Hitoshi, Sam, Jazz, Izuku, and an unconscious Eraserhead. Danny ran towards the ruined building, but is blown back off his feet when the explosion goes off. 

Danny’s tortured screams are muted by the window, but they don’t go unnoticed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gave up on that whole "taking a break" 'cause I realized I get even MORE depressed when nobody is telling me I'm doing a good job or that something sounds interesting
> 
> anyways, I've got four more chapters written so the more positivity I get the more hyped up I get about posting, so it's up to you all tbh


	83. What have I done?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> watch out for all the curse words... i'm a teenager, it happens.

Menneki and Izuku busy themselves trying to figure out what the medallion was for while Sam tried her best to keep Hitoshi and Danny from cheating on the test. They were finally home, crowded into the living room.

A knock comes from the door just as Danny was about to open the packet.

“Oh, thank the stars,” Sam muttered. “I mean, oh no, who’s at the door?” 

The door was kicked down before anybody could react and in walks a boy their age with green hair and all to familiar injuries. 

“Youngblood?” Menneki whispered, then stared at the medallion he wore. 

“Hello, and good-bye.” The boy raised his hand and suddenly nets flew out, hitting Danny and Menneki in the chest and tangling them up. “Courtesy of Skulktech 9.9. A couple of gay-ass motherfuckers, but helpful nonetheless.”

“The hell are you even talking about?!” Izuku screamed before charging. A net to his chest sent him flying backwards.

“He’s talking about time travel,” Menneki said, struggling against her net.

“You always were the smart one,” Youngblood said, taking in the sight of the girl one last time. He grabbed Danny’s net before pulling off his medallion. The two disappeared from sight in a blink of an eye.  
\----  
“Where are we?” Danny asked. Youngblood said nothing, just crossed his arms and stared at one of Clockworks’s windows. Menneki was smiling in it while she played tag with a younger version of Youngblood in a park. Youngblood took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and disappeared, along with the net.

“I sent him back to his own time. Or, rather, forward to it.” Clockwork made his way down some stairs, watching the boy closely as he did so. “Most people call me Father TIme, or Master of Time, or sometimes even Grandfather Clock. Last one’s always seemed rather strange to me. You can call me Clockwork, that’s my favorite.”

“So, Menneki was right? The past few villains were really from a different time?” 

“Yes, the future. Or, the future of your universe.” Clockwork waved his hand to the window. “Future, 10 years!”

A creature showed up, replacing Youngblood’s happy face with a wicked fanged one. The monster had snow-white, flaming hair and red eyes. His skin was a light turquoise color, and his ears were pointed along with his canines and goatee. He wore a black jumpsuit with a grey trim, a white belt, black gloves, and a familiar symbol on his chest. 

“Danny, that’s you,” Clockwork said softly. The boy’s contorted into a mixture of horror and grief. He especially didn’t like the creature’s cloak, which Danny recognized as Vlad’s. It was splattered in blood, just like the monster’s boots and gloves.

Danny whimpered as he watched the monster laugh and start flying through a city, throwing ecto-blasts into buildings. The monster screamed, and shockwaves totaled what looked to have been a school.

“Wow, what’s that? It looks like Valerie’s quirk, I didn’t know I could do that!” He suddenly stiffened as the realization of how powerful the power was dawned on him. “Oh god, I didn’t know I could do that.”

“I’m in charge of eliminating your future so that-” he pointed towards the window “-doesn’t happen.”

In the window, the monster picked up a burned truck and threw it into a helicopter, laughing as it went down.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, name on bad thing I’ve done!”

Clockwork smirked, then changed the window’s view to Lancer and Jazz talking about Danny stealing the test answers.

“Fine! Bet you can’t name two!”

In the window, the view changed to the monster hovering over a ruined city and laughing at the carnage. 

“How about two thousand?”

Clockwork pointed the end of the staff at Danny, then, with a flick of his wrist, the boy went flying through the window and into the future.


	84. so much can happen in ten years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a run down of what happened to people in the ten years after the explosion and Dark Danny's rebirth

  
Menneki curled up and sobbed into her bed. Hitoshi should’ve been there lying beside her, telling jokes late into the night until she fell asleep smiling. But he’s gone, along with Sam and Izuku. The castle was empty besides a dog that refused to eat and a cat who was constantly waiting at the door for her friends to come home.

Danny never returned. He’d left behind Cujo and her.

“He’s not coming back,” she whispered to the dog curled up at her feet. “He left us behind, he’s never coming back.”

She didn’t know what else to do besides calling Valerie up for a chat. Menneki told her everything from how Danny got his powers to how she broke her’s. At the end of everything, Valerie came to the castle and laid down on the bed with her, whispering into the girl’s ears.

_“I’m here for you.” “Cry as much as you need to.” “I won’t let anybody hurt you.”_

The two had been working together with each other behind the scenes for months, but Menneki only just now gathered up the courage to turn around and kiss the girl beside her.

_“I’ll never leave you.”_  
\-------  
Ember grieved for her brother by pulling Techu onto her bed and kissing him with tears running down her face. She wanted to forget, at least for a moment, so she gripped his hair tight and ignored the way it was fading and his roots were bright red.

He kissed back, happy to help in whatever way he could. Techu grabbed her hips and rolled over top of her, pinning her hands above her head on the bed.

There was no fighting back, but she didn’t want to. He helped rip her mind of the darkness threatening to consume her. For a while afterwards they wished they’d used protection, but Techu was a much better father than either of them expected.  
\------  
Dark Danny clawed at Menneki’s face, trying in vain to stop her voice from echoing around them. For every chunk of flesh or missing organ, the girl’s body rebuilt itself until her screams turn to cries and her cries turned to whimpers. 

And then, she stopped moving.

Dan stopped his clawing and pinned her to the ground, taking in the damage he’d done to her body. Destroyed eyes that tried in vain to repair themselves, scars forming from where he’d raked his claws over her skin. She gurgled, choking on her own blood, but one hand remained on Dan’s collar. She stared up at him with ruined eyes and tried to speak. It wouldn’t come out, but Dan knew what it was. The same thing she’d said throughout the entire meeting.

_“Why’d you leave me?”_

It made him angry and sad… he didn’t like it. Why should he feel guilty? But then he’d seen the scars that already covered her body. Ones that looked decades old on her back and torso, and newer ones on her wrists and thighs.

_“Why’d you leave me?”_

Menneki had been the first to comfort him after the explosion, yet he pushed her away. She could’ve helped him in ways that would keep him from falling. But he’d left her behind without even telling her, or taking Cujo.

_“Why’d you leave me?”_

Dan screamed and bashed Menneki’s head into the ground. Her hand finally fell, but the way her body continued repairing itself showed she was still alive.

_“Why’d you leave me?”_

Dan stood up and stepped away, staring at the broken girl among the wreckage of the city. Her blood pooled around her, escaping through the various stab wounds and slashes.

“I don’t regret leaving you,” Dan whispered before leaving the girl behind to cause more chaos. Her words remained in his head, echoing louder and louder every year.  
\-----  
Hero society fell, All Might was missing, and various heroes hung up their hat to go into hiding. When Dan began destroying cities throughout Japan, one place remained, a small castle on the beach. Heroes being hunted were brought there and hidden from the monster. Soon others were brought up and the castle began growing over the beach.

The Black Star showed up and offered support, so the quirk shield went up, extra protection for a hidden city.

They were doing well for themselves, they thought. A couple months in and they were easily keeping up with the steady income of civilians and heroes. Menneki sat at the top with Valerie as the peacekeepers and patrol. They said who came in and who was denied, and almost everybody was allowed inside. 

Present Mic was one of the many people who were missing, along with All Might. Nezu helped keep the city from falling into chaos, and quickly became allies with Haru, Youngblood’s crow friend.

After a while things got better, mostly thanks to the fact that Cementose could create entire buildings in only a few seconds. By recycling garbage from the beach, they could create working lights and water purifiers. One of the children had the ability to influence plant life, so they relied on her and- without hurting the child more than pricking her finger- Wendigo. The child and her family were treated as royalty in exchange for the help growing food. The Sea Man and Gang Orca worked together to catch fish with a few other civilians, one of which was a small girl with a rog mutation quirk.

The city became self sustainable after a year as left Japan to destroy surrounding countries and, eventually, most of the world.


	85. You know that meme?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TURN THE FREAKEN FROGS GAY

Danny hit the ground hard and rolled until he was laying on his back staring up at the stars. Around him was a city long destroyed with vines creeping up the ruined buildings. Small birds were singing in young trees and stray cats meowed at him from an alleyway.

“Oh shit-” He was about to say as a building nearby began to crumble. He jumped to his feet and took off to the only place he knew would still be standing. The place he’d never learned the map of.

Dagobah beach.

He coughed and covered his face with his shirt as he made his way to the trash heap. An area of the beach had been clean thanks to Izuku’s hard work, but now it was covered again. He made his way to the water carefully and jumped in. 

“Hey!” A voice echoed around him as if it had been said in a canyon rather than the water. It was a woman’s voice, and he found himself looking around the water to find the source. A long rope-like thing wrapped itself around him and flung him into the air. He yelped, but still refused to change form.

Something grabbed him before he could hit the beach, and he was soon tied to a fridge by the woman’s tongue. She tapped an earpiece.

“Unknown person found in the water, tied to a fridge. Quirk unknown.” She took her hand away from the device and stared at him instead. “My name’s Froppy, what’s yours?”

Froppy’s outfit was turtleneck bodysuit that was a green so dark it was nearly black. Her hands had the same color green gloves with webbed fingers. Her long hair was tied loosely around her waist and acted as a make-shift holster since her belt looked broken. She had a handgun with an oddly wide barrel with various capsules that probably had nets or the sort in them. On her head were goggles spray-painted black. The paint was chipping, showing they were yellow underneath. Froppy looked to be in her mid-20s but was still somewhat small.

“Danny, Danny Fenton.”

The woman winced, then tightened her grip around him. 

“Froppy, I’m here!” A voice called as another familiar person landed by the woman. Valerie’s hair was buzzed, but Danny still recognized her. A gun was immediately aimed at the boy, who in turn transformed and darted into the sky.

“Wait, Valerie, it’s me! Danny! I know it’s strange but somebody sent me forward in time!” A blast shot passed Danny as he dodged. 

“That Danny’s dead, quit trying to trick me!” Valerie shot a couple more times until the boy finally darted into the ground. He reappeared behind Valerie and grabbed her gun.

“Stop, just listen to me! Menneki, where is she? Bring her out and she can prove it’s actually me!” 

Froppy screamed and jumped at him, shooting him in the chest with one of her nets before he could dodge.

He fell immediately, hitting the trash with a loud and painful crash. His head lulled as he tried to sit up, or fight back, but he transformed back into his normal self as the back of his head began to bleed. The two women hovering over him were blurred, but their voices rang loud and clear.

“That’s not Dan, ribbit.”

“Yes, I can see that. We need to get him to the castle.”

Everything went black.


	86. Roots like the trees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan's creation and (if you can guess it) plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the song is Haunting by Halsey but I changed the words a little.

Somebody was singing. 

Somebody was singing a haunting melody that bounced around a room that looked startling similar to the castle living room. Red blankets on the wall, red rugs on the ground, and the few cots lining the walls were all covered in red sheets and pillows. A woman was walking around in a comfortable red and stary dress that was definitely made from the old sheets of Danny and Sam’s bed.

She sang her lullaby while flitting around the room and grabbing stuff off the tables, holding them to her face, which was turned away from Danny, then putting it down to instead grab something else. _*"'Cause I've done some things that I can't speak; And I tried to wash you away, but you just won't leave; So won't you take a breath and dive in deep? 'Cause I came here so you'd come back to me…”_

She finally turned towards him, showing the scars covering her face and the foggy eyes smiling towards him. 

“Menneki? No, no no no, what happened to you?”

She paused her singing for a moment and frowned slightly, but soon a smile danced onto her lips. “Eraserhead’s quirk couldn’t work on mutations, remember? My quirk couldn’t stop Dan from slicing me up with his claws. Danny, my friend, I’ve missed you.”

Danny couldn’t help but let his eyes tear up as the woman came and sat beside him on the bed. She didn’t turn her face towards him, but it was understandable since it looked like she was deaf in one ear judging from the scars. Then there was how she spoke of Eraserhead in the past tense. 

“I-I’m sorry this happened. I’m not entirely sure how it came to this.

Menneki just smiled sadly, then slowly raised a hand and placed it on his shoulder. “I know you’re not going to want to see him, but there is actually a man here who can explain what happened to Dan.”

Danny looked up. He wasn’t sure who to expect, maybe Nezu or some other hero. Then, with a knock and a head poking in, Vlad strolled in leaning on a cane. He looked frail and thin, with his hair uncut and messy.

“Danny? They told me you were… but I didn’t believe them…” Vlad limped in slowly, wincing with every step. Danny stood slowly, and Menneki put her hands on his shoulders to keep him still. She was canceling his power, he could tell, but she also seemed surprisingly strong for how small she was.

“It’s alright Danny, Masters has helped us keep this sanctuary running for nearly a decade.” She rubbed his shoulders gently, like how Yurei had done when he was young and had a bad dream or got picked on for being quirkless.

Danny slowly relaxed as Vlad came over and sat at the end of the cot and breathed shakily. The man smiled at the boy, then held out his hand.

“Everybody knows about how Dan came and wreaked havoc, but very few care about the sad story that led to his creation. As soon as Kohi said you were here, I knew it had something to do with Clockwork, so I decided it was best to tell you the story.”

Danny looked at Menneki, who just smiled in return. He nodded at Vlad, straightening up slightly in anticipation.  
\-----  
Danny was crying when he arrived at the Masters Mansion. Vlad didn’t push anything on the boy, not a single word to persuade him into being his pupil or son. Instead, Vlad cared for the boy from a distance. Anything the boy wanted, Vlad was more than willing to provide. Danny’s bedroom had been set up with information a young girl had given. 

Glow in the dark planets and stars covered the walls and ceiling, with dark furniture professionally painted to look like galaxies and supernovas. Vlad thought it would help the boy, but Danny would just lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. For a while, Vlad wondered if he could bribe somebody into releasing Jack and Yurei to comfort the boy, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it because of what they did. He knew Adrestia, and he believed her completely when she told him that the Fentons had been experimenting with humans for years.

The first day Danny was there he was quick to test how much Vlad would put up with. He asked for a trampoline, a gaming computer, a few hundred dollars worth of games, 30 pounds of chocolate, and a dozen or so movies and a flatscreen tv for his room. Vlad bought everything and waited for more, but Danny seemed both surprised by the amount of money the man was willing to spend for him. Vlad was confused on why such things were what the boy asked for, then it hit him..

_“He’s been living on the streets for months.”_

The second day, Danny did whatever he could to annoy Vlad, seemingly set on getting kicked out. He woke the man up at three in the morning by throwing every pot and pan in the kitchen onto the ground and shooting them until they melted. Vlad was frustrated, of course, but he didn’t do what Danny expected. He merely called some maids in early and ordered new kitchen ware. Then, around none Danny started flying around the mansion in ghost form, spooking cleaning ladies and the gardener until somebody screamed and Vlad came to stop the boy. He snuck up behind the boy and put a cuff on his wrist, immediately canceling his power.

“What are you doing?!” The man yelled, but immediately backed away at the sight of the boy cowering away.

_“He’s afraid of me, and it’s my fault.”_

The third day began the start of one of the most terrifying weeks of Vlad’s life. Danny stopped eating.

Vlad tried to make the food as appealing as possible, going as far as calling that young friend of his to ask what he liked. Cookies, biscuits, and cakes filled the mansion with a delicious smell, but Danny just lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling.

“Have you ever heard of a guy named Clockwork?” Danny asked one day out of the blue, startling Vlad in his private study. The man shrugged to hide his joy at seeing Danny out of his bed voluntarily. He’d never thought this brat would ever be able to make him cry, yet he felt his eyes tear up.

“Yes, I have. He’s a bit of a rumor, someone villains with reality altering quirks know about their work isn’t interfered with. Who told you?”

“Menneki. She told me once about him then said ‘if nobody comes back from the future to stop you, you haven’t fucked up as bad as you thought.’”

Vlad blinked in surprise. 

“It was all said in passing, I thought she just drank too much coffee or something.” Danny sighed, looked around the room, then turned to leave. Vlad jumped out of his chair and yelped “wait!”

Danny turned while the man wracked his brain for something to stay to keep the boy from going to his room.

“I-I’m technically a villian, you know. If you’d like, I can answer questions, give you a list of people to go after…”

“I never wanted to be a hero, that was Izuku’s dream. I didn’t really care about helping the world all that much either, to be honest, that was Sam’s plan.” Danny walked away, stumbling and staring off into space.

Vlad watched the boy leave and slowly sank back into his chair. What started as a trembling lip soon turned to sobbing.

On day seven, Danny realized his ghost half regenerated to quickly for him to die of hunger. He came to Vlad early in the morning, crying and begging for the hurt to go away. He blamed himself for so much, the guilt ate away with him along with the grief, so Vlad hesitantly agreed.

Luckily, Vlad kept all his old experiments unlike the Fentons, so he was able to quickly ready everything. Ghost Snatchers, as he’d named it long ago since he, like Danny, had dubbed his new cluster of quirks “Ghost”. The Ghost Snatchers were a couple of large metal gauntlets with razor sharp claws at the end of the fingers. They literally couldn’t be used to hurt people though, since it was specifically designed to rip out Vlad’s ghost half.

Danny slept soundly on the table, strapped down just in case he thrashed or something. Vlad reached in, grabbed onto the quirks, and pulled. At first the ghost was still, hanging onto the memory of being unconscious.

With a growl, it darted awake and glared down at Vlad. The ghost ripped the gauntlets out and kicked Vlad through the air and into a wall. Before the man could react, Phantom had put the gauntlets on himself and ripped through Vlad’s chest. His screams as his ghost was forcibly removed woke Danny up on the table. The child frantically ripped his legs out of the bindings as Plasmius was absorbed into Phantom.

Danny cowered in the corner of the room as the monster caught sight of him. 

_“What happened to my human self?” Danny asked. Menneki’s hand tightened over his shoulders and she gave him a sad smile. _

_“Some things are best left unsaid, my boy,” Vlad replied._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to make this WAY more angsty than it is but I don't like reading that stuff so I figured this is fine.


	87. Gotta locket in my pocket

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short little chapter but who cares.

Vlad carried a locket around his neck, holding onto it when things got bad. It was a football locket that Jack got him when they were in college, with their faces on either side. Vlad missed them, if he was being honest. They’d died during Dan’s first attack on Japan.

For a long time Vlad wandered around the country, trying to find someplace safe. 

“Hello there,” a young voice said. It was a girl wearing a blindfold to hide scars over her face but failing. She smiled down at him from where she sat on a pile of rubble. “Are you lost?”   
  
Vlad nodded slowly and leaned heavily on his cane. He suspected she was a thief or scavenger, so he made himself look as little of a threat as possible. “I have nothing.”

She chuckled. “Well, let’s fix that, huh?”   
  
She jumped down and landed on the ground with ease. She offered her hand and he took it hesitantly. She giggled and pulled him into a hug before leaping into the air with a flash of purple lightning. 

Her feet barely touched the ground as she leapt from ruined building to ruined building. 

The Dagobah Sanctuary was run by the young girl and her lover. There weren’t very many people, but more came every day. Vlad loved the view, and the way people talked to him kindly, especially this one woman with bright red hair and green eyes. She was younger than him by a bit, but he couldn’t help but get lost in her eyes. 

Her name was Yua Kinzoku, she was a hero with the ability to control metal. Right now, though, she worked to keep food in everybody’s bellies.

Vlad decided he didn’t need to wander any more, he’d found a home in Yua’s arms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She's not that important I just wanted to show him moving on
> 
> Also, vlad has a thing for redheads...


	88. Missing Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People are panicking and I'm kicking my feet back watching and laughing.

Sam and Izuku were panicking while looking for Danny. They’d already gone to Jazz and Eraserhead to ask for help, so now there were people all over searching for the boy. 

“The old cafe, good to be back,” a voice surprised Sam and Izuku. Danny came strolling inside, a familiar medallion around his neck.

“Danny!” Sam cried before darting over and pulling the boy into a hug. He stiffened, then sniffed her hair. “What are you doing?”

“You smell like cinnamon, I never noticed before, you know.” He inhaled again then stepped back, giving her a crooked smile. There was something wrong with his eyes, they were rimmed with red, and his medallion was old and the paint was chipped. Menneki narrowed her eyes at him. 

“Why’d you leave me?” She whispered, sneering. The boy visibly flinched and turned away. 

  
“Not my fault now, my memory’s all fuzzy.”

  
“Menneki! That was rude, and it’s not exactly his fault he was kidnapped by a future version of a villain.”

  
“Oh yeah, who was it again?” Danny asked, looking around at the cafe, looking like he was mentally measuring something.

“It was an older version of Youngblood, he was about our age.” Sam ran his hands over his shoulders gently. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

  
“Yes, yes of course,” he smiled wider. “I beat up the guy behind it quite easily-” the glare Menneki gave him showed she knew he was lying, but nobody would believe  _ her _ over  _ him _ “-it was over quickly but it took me a while to find my way back.”

  
“Didn’t you just say your memories were fuzzy?” Menneki pointed out. Danny shrugged. 

  
“Only some of them. It’s all rather confusing. Now, who’s up for-”  _ what did we used to do together?  _ “-playing video games and raging against the machine?”

  
Sam blinked in confusion. “We… don’t have any video game consoles?”    
  
“I meant at an arcade or something.”

They shrugged and agreed.

\------

In the future, Vlad was talking with Danny and Menneki about what they could do to send the boy back to his own time. They sat in Vlad’s living room, which was small but filled with a comfortable sofa and a dining table with chairs. There was a small kitchen with plants sitting on every window and counter. There was one bedroom with a king sized bed, a dresser, and a bookshelf. A woman with greying red hair brought tea out and then disappeared

Menneki seemed preoccupied with something on her tablet. Or, rather, what  _ wasn’t  _ on video. She was looking at security footage from cameras she’d set up around the city.

“He’s gone,” she said, tapping her chin in thought. “Every year yesterday he shows up and destroys anything that he can find for a full week before moving on to the next city.”

Danny leaned over the back of the sofa and looked over the woman’s sofa. His eyebrows creased in confusion.

“I thought you were blind?”

  
“I am, a friend of mine made it so only cameras who’ve caught movement pull up a video, then it looks to see if it is a man or something else. It can see invisible things too, through heat signature. The tablet’s supposed to scream at me if Dan is spotted.”

  
A cat popped up a video as it walked into the middle of the street and sat on the ground to clean itself.

“Dan is missing.”


	89. Monster Found.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazz learns something important a bit to late.

Jazz decided to confront Danny on his cheating. She called him to the place she was living, a small two bedroom apartment. Nezu was gone, working late at the school as usual.

“Danny I know you stole the answer sheet. I’ve always been proud of you and all you accomplish with your powers, until now.” She laid her hands over his shoulders, holding him there gently.

“Oh, yes, you learned my alternate identity during that whole fiasco with Freakshow, didn’t you. I always figured it was Menneki who told you.”   
  
Jazz sighed and shook her head. “No, Danny, I’ve known you were Phantom since Spectra attacked the school.”   
  
Danny gasped, obviously surprised. “You  _ knew? _ ”   
  
“Yes, and I covered for you for as long as possible. But not anymore!”   
  
Danny’s surprise turned to amusement as the boy chuckled. His voice deepened as he spoke. “You always were smarter than I gave you credit for.”   
  
The boy’s skin greyed and split apart as the monster inside increased in size. The monster hovered above the disguise, laughing as Jazz screamed and backed away. She stared into his eyes, recognizing them as her brother’s despite the color change.

“Danny? No, you can’t be Danny! You can’t be!”   
  
“I was, but I grew out of it. The Danny you know was flying aimlessly somewhere ten years in the future the last time I saw him. Scrawny little thing, I can’t believe I was ever that small.”   
  
Looking at the monster’s bulging muscles, Jazz could understand why he’d say that. “He’ll escape! He’ll beat you!”   
  
“How? Is the answer A, Menneki’s new quirks randomly allow people to travel through time? Not possible. Perhaps it’s B, my cheesehead archenemy somehow rewrites the medallion’s ability so it can return somebody to their rightful place in time? Possible, but highly improbable.”   
  


“Cheesehead? You mean Vlad Masters?” Jazz tried to think of why that would be, then gasped when she remembered their trip to the Masters Mansion. “Oh my gosh, Vlad is Plasmius?!”   
  
“Took you long enough. Let’s see… C,  _ you _ stop me. You can’t even stop me from cheating on the test in a few hours. Therefore it must be D, none of the above.” He pointed at her, releasing a short burst of lightning into her stomach. He laughed, grabbing her unconscious body before it could hit the ground. “Looks like the answer _ was _ D, haha!”

\-----

Jazz wakes up in the middle of the cafe, tied to the top of a table surrounded in barrels. She screamed, but it was muffled by her gag. She kicked and squirmed, trying to make enough noise to raise alarm in somebody passing by on the street… but the blinds were drawn, and the cafe was closed for the day while the kids were testing.


	90. A wrinkle in time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've been wanting to name a chapter that since I started this part of the story.

Mr. Lancer had always wondered if Danny thought the man was an idiot. Every once in a while the boy would snicker and fiddle with something under the desk. With a smirk, the boy dropped his finished test on Lancer’s desk.

“Finished already?” Lancer growled.

“It’s not like it was hard,” the boy grinned, eyes flashing red for a moment.

The man sighed as Danny left and sent a text to Jazz and the hero Eraserhead for them to meet him at the Kuria Kafe (Menneki’s cafe) at seven. 

The time rolled around and Eraserhead walked up to the still-closed cafe. He waited patiently until a loud crash from inside caught his attention. He picked the lock and armed himself with his scarf before peeking in. Jazz stiffened and turned to stare at him, eyes wide and tearing up.

“Jazz,” he breathed, then hurried in to cut the ropes binding the girl. He hadn’t even finished one hand when something suddenly grabbed his shoulder and sent a jolt of electricity through his body.  
  


“Penciltop, my goodness, I rather miss you in my weaker moments.” The monster released his invisibility power and hovered over the unconscious hero. “You would’ve made a great father to Hitoshi, had he not been afraid of you.”  
  
A few minutes later a panicking Menneki and Hitoshi joined them tied up and gagged. A few more and Sam and Izuku were there. Everybody stared up at the monster as it laughed and made a line of gasoline out to the street. 

Menneki stared at everybody around her, as if trying to memorize their faces, then out the windows to the street.

“Hey, old man!” A voice called as a giant purple portal opened in the sky. A young Phantom flew out, followed closely by a teenage Youngblood and an older, scarred up Menneki. “Ready for a blast from your past?”  
  
Danny shot the monster at the same time Youngblood did.

“Danny, get them outta there, we’ll distract Dan,” Menneki said, shrugging off a large red robe she’d been wearing. Underneath she had a simple tank top and jeans, both of which fit snuggling and show just how fuckin’ _ ripped _ she was. Danny did a double take, then shot through the cafe walls.

“Don’t worry, I won’t turn into that. Ever.” Danny ripped the ropes on Lancer’s wrists just before a Dan clone could pop out of the ground and kick the boy through the wall. The monster had slip himself into three copies, one for each of the people fighting him.

Menneki aimed a punch at her copy, canceling its power right before hitting it. Purple lightning danced over her skin as she turned the Dan into pile of green goop that quickly evaporated. The two remaining Dan’s gawked at her for a moment before deciding to instead attack Danny.  
  
“What are you gonna do, waste me?! What happens to you then?!”  
  
“You don’t get it, do you? _ I’m _ still here. I still exist, which means _ you _ still turn into _ me _.” Dan laughed as he and another copy surrounded him. A clone darted towards Menneki completely intangible and invisible to distract her while Youngblood tried to free the people tied up inside. Without taking his eyes off Danny, the monster shot a beam through the wall and stuck Youngblood to a wall with ectoplasm.

“I don’t have to waste you!” Dan laughed before kicking Danny into a light post.  
  
“Danny!” Menneki screamed before launching herself between Dan and the boy. She threw punch after punch at the copies while canceling their powers so the force would knock them off their feet and into the air.

“I just need to run out the clock,” Dan muttered and sent a fireball at the line of gasoline. It lit up quickly and made its way to the cafe.  
  
“No nO _ NO! _ Danny screamed, his voice raising in volume and twisting into a wail that forced the monster back. A divot was dug into the street, windows were destroyed, and the fire was put out before it could even make it into the building.

“Ugh, no! Not possible! I don’t get that power until ten years from now!”  
  
“I guess the future isn’t as set in stone as you thought,” Danny said as he collapsed to is knees and unwillingly changed back into his normal form. He shivered at the cold concrete underneath him. The monster rose to his feet and glared down at the boy.

“Why’d you leave me?” A voice echoed through the street. Menneki had long since destroyed the clones and was standing with Youngblood at her feet. The boy placed what looked like a thermos in her hand, but it was old and rusted with a fading Fenton Works symbol on it.

“You really think that’ll contain me?! My _ parents _ built it, I know how it works!” Dan moved towards her, looking ready to fight when he seemed to realize something. He flickered to a stop as she opened the container and something began sucking him in like a vacuum. 

“You should know… this was designed to trap Phantom specifically,” Menneki huffed. The monster screamed as he was sucked into the thermos.

“Good job, I would expect nothing less from the holder of One for All,” Clockwork’s voice caught their attention. He stared at Menneki as he spoke. She replied by giving him a sly smile and holding the thermos to him.

“This is what you want, right?”  
  
He smiled and took it from her. Danny watched as the scars on her face began to disappear and her eyes changed from the foggy blue to the regular black.

“Why?” Danny asked as he stood up. His friends and family began leaving the cafe, their bindings broken and frayed. “Why’d you do all this? You could’ve just killed me.”  
  
Clockwork sighed and began floating up to hover above the cafe.

“It seems almost everybody sees time as a parade, one thing after another passing by. One event after another. I get to see the parade from above! All the twists and turns it might-”

“Or might not,” Menneki added with a giggle.

“- take.” Clockwork laughed with her.

“You knew all of this would happen. All of it! Even this part,” he watched as Menneki’s clothing began changing as well. Her red cloak vanished and she was left wearing a bright, cheery hero suit with cat ears. Youngblood, who was standing beside her, was soon wearing a cleaner and Black Star- free version of his outfit. 

Clockwork’s eyes brightened at the way her immunity to quirks wasn’t as affected by the resetting of the timeline.

“Everything’s the way it should be. And here we have you, a fifteen year old risking everything to save the people you care about.”  
  
Clockwork stared at Menneki for a moment longer before shouting “TIme in!”


	91. Testng testing!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD THERE WAS SO MUCH BACKSTORY AND STUFF I MADE FOR THIS THAT NEVER MADE IS IN.
> 
> Check out the end notes if you wanna read about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know your favorite villains from either series so I can write them in. 
> 
> And maybe a few OCs cause I want some interesting background characters? Maybe? Possibly?

Danny holds a packet tight in his hands and breathes deeply as before making his way to the front of the room. It isn’t until he’s near the front that he notices Lancer looks like he’s having an existential crisis. The man looked like he was ready to cry.

  
“Where’d it go? The monster?” Lancer whispered when Danny was close enough that nobody else would hear. Apparently Menneki did, though, because she looked up and smirked. 

  
“You… remember?”

“Oh, uh, that was Menneki’s quirk, she grabbed my hand before that Time guy did… something I’m not sure.” The man looked around the room at all the students. There were only three kids there that Danny didn’t recognize, but they were too busy panicking about their tests to notice what was happening. 

  
“Well, I found this. I didn’t look at it I swear.” Danny handed the answer packet to him. The teacher nodded, then waved the boy back to his seat. Menneki winked at Danny before returning to her half-finished test. 

  
She must’ve remembered all the answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, first off you know that Technically and Ember had a kid. It was a girl and they named her Shinso because she ended up with purple hair too (but it was straight). Her quirk was pyrokinesis. 
> 
> Youngblood ended up becoming the head of the Black Star after Adrestia hung up the hat and her parents died.
> 
> Valerie's father died in one of Dan's attack, so she was out for vengeance. Menneki kept her from getting to obsessed though.
> 
> Bento Box is actually named that. Since she was born after the government fell there werent really birth certificates or anything. Eventually her parents just decided tolhat was what they'd call her.
> 
> Shadowdancer's power is WAY to powerful, but I couldnt decide whether to give her shadow possession powers (from naruto, tbh) or shadow travel (Nicole d angelo, percy jackson series) so I gave her both but in as slightly weaker versions.
> 
> Menneki of the apocolypse timeline ended up with all for one when all might tried to fight dan in secret and lost. She was the only one left alive in the area so she took the quirk and held Yagi in his last few momenta of life. That was only a couple hours before dan blinded and scarred her.
> 
> Vlad was telling the honest to god truth when he explained the story to danny, he really did try his best to help the boy. He did cry when danny isolated himself. Vlad really did move on from Yurei with a young red haired hero woman.
> 
> How clockwork and Menneki met is sorta explained in the next chapter.
> 
> Lancer knows about the kids now but he doesn't play a very important role in their lives anymore.


	92. The Real Hero

Dan sat at the table, face blank and staring at the tea cup in his hands. Clockwork sat across from him in adult form, watching him closely. 

“Why am I not locked up?” Dan scowled. Clockwork gave him a sad smile, then looked towards his window. Dan followed his gaze to see a younger version of Menneki crying on a swing that rocked slightly in the wind.

The swing stopped on an incline, causing the girl to look down at it in surprise. When she got off, Dan noticed how small she was, no older than seven. The window was muted, but he could hear whimpers at the back of his mind, a memory of when he’d hurt her.

“She knew I existed and she told you. She warned you that messing up bad enough I would force me to intervene.”

Dan didn’t respond, stiffening instead. His eyes remained on the window as the child wandered around a world frozen in time.

“You knew that if you destroyed the world I would interfere. You became a villain to save the people you love.”

Dan stood from his seat, and made his way to the window slowly. Menneki was wandering around, shaking in fear at the sight of the frozen world. On the screen, a child version of Clockwork walked over to her and began chatting with her. Whatever he said made her smile. He slowly wiped her tears away and took her hands in his.

“I’ve never seen you as anything other than a hero.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to give my mad lad a hug.


	93. On hiatus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm taking a break.

U all probably guessed by now but im on hiatus until further notice. I'm working on a star wars fan fiction series for... Personal reasons.

Sorry, but i will be back briefly for christmas with a holiday special maybe. 


	94. Snowflake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas eve and arguing begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didnt want to wait until christmas to post this.

A snowflake landed on Danny’s nose as he relaxed on the beach. Despite the cold, Izuku worked on moving trash. Sam was building a snowman that was messy and grainy from the sand.

“Danny, give him some eyes would you?”

He sighed but shot two small beams into the snowman’s head. He leaned back and listened to the conversation Izuku was having with his mother on speakerphone. He did this regularly, but his mother always sounded worried anyways. 

Danny wondered if his parents worried about him, too, or if they were just annoyed they couldn’t work on their projects anymore. They would be getting out on bail in a few weeks. The boy couldn’t help but have mixed feelings on the whole thing.

“Merry Christmas!” Somebody called down to the beach. Menneki and Hitoshi were bundled up and carrying bags. Or, Hitoshi was carrying bags, she was waving her hands wildly at them. Sam cheered, but Danny just groaned.

“Woah, what’s with you?” Sam asked before catching a hat thrown down at her. She plopped the cheap santa hat onto her snow-sandman. The salt water was melting the thing quickly so soon it probably wouldn’t even be recognizable. 

“It’s Christmas, he must be talking about  _ “the fight.” _ ” Izuku called. Sam looked confused. Of course, this is the first Christmas she’s spent with anybody outside her family, but she was still annoyed that she didn’t know something this important.

“Every year my parents have a fight over whether Santa is real or not.”   
  
“Well, they aren’t here now,” Menneki reasoned as she skipped over with an exhausted Hitoshi at her heels. They’d been shopping all day for decorations and gifts. They picked out everything, then charged it to the Manson’s credit card.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” Danny sighed, staring at one of the many bags in Hitoshi’s hands. He wondered which one was his.

“Wait, _ is _ Santa real? Cause my mom said yes, but…” Izuku walked over. Steam seemed to roll off him as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Sam said no, Menneki and Hitoshi said yes. Danny let out a long groan and started heading towards the castle with everybody following and debating the existence of Santa.

Menneki had bought a miniature tree, about two feet tall. They decided since it was too small to put gifts under, they would put it on a chair in the center of the living room and place the gifts underneath.

Paper snowflakes were stuck to the wall and pictures of family members acted as ornaments for the tree. Altogether it was fun until the arguing started.

“I’m telling you, I really don’t think Santa can exist. His myth has been around since before quirks.” Sam was trying to act reasonably, like Yurei used to.

“Yeah, but maybe he was sent back in time or something by that Clockwork fellow. I mean, it’s possible.” Izuku pointed out before munching on a stale All Might cookie. “All Might could probably do it with his speed.”   
  
“You think All Might can do anything!”

“Perhaps instead of arguing we call somebody to settle this?” Menneki stood up, smoothed her shirt, and stared up at the roof. “Clockwork? Hey, can you settle this.”   
  
Hitoshi looked confused, as did the others, then yelped when what looked like a portal opened up and a face poked through. 

“Hello my dear, you must really want this figured out, huh?” The man chuckled as she smiled up at him. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you, since it’s not my secret to tell.”   
  
She pouted, making him laugh a little louder. Then, randomly, she held up a cookie to him. “You want to eat All Might’s face?”   
  
“I think you should find a better way to word that,” he laughed. The cookie floated up into the portal right before it closed.

“The fuck just happened?” Hitoshi breathed. Menneki smiled at him.

“Oh, you know, asking a god to solve a childhood mystery of course.”


	95. ...and to all a good fright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny should be more careful, and Sakka shouldn't jump to conclusions.

_ “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good fright.” _

A man holds up a manuscript and smiles proudly. He has black hair and a goatee. To be honest, he looked like a hipster with his purple jacket and grey scarf. His clothes were a bit frayed at the edges, but he looked happy enough despite it. 

Something outside his apartment caught his attention. Somebody was grumbling angrily and, looking out the window, the man could see Phantom hovering in the air, throwing stuff into the air and blasting it to bits. Mostly it was broken christmas stuff that he dug out of the trash, but there were a few random things here and there.

The man made his way outside with his finished manuscript held high, seemingly forgetting about the boy shooting things outside. 

“Santa, no santa! Who cares!” the boy cried, blasting at an ornament. It passed right by it and hit the man’s book. “Oh gosh are you alright?!”   
  
The man watched the shredded paper flutter to the ground.

“Sorry man, it was a total accident!” Phantom flew down and hovered not far away, staring at the ruined book, then the man grinding his teeth.

“ _ Accident? _ Do you have any idea what you’ve done?! You’ve destroyed my greatest work! And that was my only copy!”

Phantom looked at the cover, which had just barely stayed somewhat intact besides a gaping hole in the middle. “A Fright Before Christmas? I destroyed a Christmas poem? Awesome!”   
  
“WHAT!” The man yelled. He was shaking in anger now, glaring up at the teen.

“Dude, I am  _ sick _ of Christmas! I left my home to get away from it!”   
  
“Scrooge!” The man yelled, as if it was the worst insult there was. Perhaps it was, just not for Danny. The boy huffed.

“Yeah I get that a lot. Anyways, I really am sorry about the poem. Is there something I can do to fix this? What’s your name?”   
  
The man glared at the boy. “I am Ghostwriter. And I can bring anything I write to life! And, since you destroyed my christmas poem…”   
  
Phantom swallowed, knowing something bad was about to happen. Before he could react, Ghostwriter disappeared into the house and everything began to spiral. 

“...you shall be my new poem!”


	96. Poetry

_ “On the day before Christmas in Musutafu Japan, all was cheery and bright except for one young man.” _

Danny looked at his friends. Izuku was hauling garbage and Sam was trying to build a snowman despite the salt water and sand. 

“What, that voice… it’s the man who’s poem I destroyed!” Danny looked up, only to see a red box around him. Looking behind him he noticed that instead of a wall or more trash there was nothing but an empty white space. “I’m… trapped in his poem?”

The boy looked into the sky and let s loud groan. He was annoyed, and angry, but the most powerful emotion was worry because the next line of the poem made it obvious the boy’s alternate identity was well known among villains.

_ “Danny Fenton hates christmas. He hates it a lot. Which is why I’ve inserted the boy in this plot.” _

Danny grumbled at the rhyming, then watched as Sam and Izuku started back towards the castle with a wave for him to follow. 

_ “He’ll go through this tale ‘till the story is ended-” _

“But you can’t make me rhyme,” he hissed.

_ “Isn’t this time of year just splendid?”  _ Hitoshi said as he ran to catch up to the trio. He smiled at them, arms weighed down by bags of already wrapped presents and christmas supplies.

_ “You would be quite surprised by what I can and can’t do-” _ the writer begins. Danny grumbles and turns around, walking in the opposite direction. _ “-but I’ll you your freedom so I can teach you.” _

_ “‘Til your lesson is learned.” _

The trash on the beach reflected the Ghostwriter’s red eyes back to Danny. The boy shivered, his thoughts immediately dancing to the red eyes of a monster he’d fought. 

“What’s wrong Danny?” Izuku called before they ran to catch up with their friend.

_ “Said Izuky confused.” _

“Some annoying Ghostwriter. We’re all being used!” Danny groaned. “I blew up his story.”

_ “No hint of remorse.” _

“Now he’s writing a new one we’re all trapped in by force!”

_ “But Izuku and Sam merely shrugged in confusion. Completely convinced in my quirky illusion.” _

  
Izuku and Sam  _ did _ shrug before waving for Danny to follow them to the Castle. In hushed tones they spoke about Danny.

“Has he always been gloomy and glum in December?” Sam asked.

“A big whiny scrooge as long as I remember.”   
  
“Where is Menneki?” Danny asked finally. “She’ll figure this out.”   
  


“Who’s Menneki?”   
  


_ “And Danny began to pout.” _

Danny didn’t  _ pout, _ he was on the verge of tears. Then his face scrunched up as if he’d aged ten years. He transformed into Phantom and jumped into the sky, quickly giving his friends only a wave of goodbye. He flew all the way to the cafe, calling for a friend that- maybe- wasn’t there that day?   
  
“Menneki?!”   
  
_ “But whoever he looked for, he couldn’t see.” _

Danny looked around the cafe which was closed on this day, and tried to think of some explanation he could say. The building was dark and cold, but the tables bounced light around like gold. 

“Where is she.”   
  
_ “He said in the most fearful tone, but the girl could be anywhere, even in a tree. Perhaps she was, and awaited his arrival. Or perhaps my power doesn’t work on this new rival.” _

Without a word Danny shot up into the air and decided to instead think of warm winter clothes he could wear. He needed some shelter against the cold, of course, but all the thick clothes at the castle had colors to bold.

“Are you alright?”

_ “Sam asked as he fazed in.” _

“Menneki is missing, and you’re all worried about presents.” Danny grumbled and sat down beside them, noticing the room turned out exactly the same without him. The christmas tree glowed with bright christmas lights, and he sat and waited for the inevitable fight.

“So,  _ is _ Santa real?” 

_ “Izuku said as he sat down.” _

“I don’t really care.”

_ “Danny said without a frown. Perhaps he was worried ‘bout his friend. Perhaps his heart was in need of a mend. Whatever the reason, the boy sat and pouted, and listened as the “argued” turned into “shouted.”” _

“There’s no poem if I’m silent!”   
  
_ “He said to the writer.” _

“You need to stop this!” Danny huffed.

“Can you make him stop fighting her?” Hitoshi whispered as he watched Izuku and Sam continue arguing. 

_ “You think this is over? This doesn’t end until the lesson is done.” _

“You think that I’ll learn it? You think that you’re tough?”

  
“He exists!”   
  
“He doesn’t!”

_ “And Danny screams-” _

“Enough!” Danny shook in rage, glaring at his friends arguing. “Can’t you just let this die? They ruined each christmas. Each christmas and I-”

He made his way to the door, face twisted into one of pain. “-I can’t take anymore of these wars, am I clear?!”   
  
He slammed the door behind him and began his march away from the castle. Fighting all the time… what a hassle.

“Go ahead, clear your head, I think you’ll be fine,” Hitoshi mumbled. He sighed, then quickly backed away as the presents began to hover before flying out the door after Danny. “But taking our presents is crossing the line!”   
  
“Now you’re ripping off gifts? What is that supposed to do?” Danny grumbled before changing form and flying into the sky.

_ “Make a big scene, blame it on you.” _

Danny felt dread settle in his throat. After all, this wasn’t the first time somebody tried to ruin him so they could gloat. But then came a thought, a stupid sick thought.

“This curse is to teach me a lesson.” He wasn’t sure if he was right or not. “So… perhaps if I go to a place full of aggression?”   


  
_ “I don’t like this idea, not one little bit. But I did say you could have free will, so I’ll just wait until you quit.” _


	97. The story continues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mistakes where made...

\-------------

The Black Star was panicking, racing around. Feeling they’d forgotten something but not entirely sure how. It must’ve been an enemy’s quirk, for them to forget who led them, and how in the world they forgot where they come from.

One thing remained, and that was their respect for Phantom. 

“I need your help!”  
  


_“He cried before Techu could smoke him.”_

“My friend is missing and nobody remembers them!”  
  
Techu and Ember linked hands and stared at the hero. 

_“But before they could sit down and chat, Danny realized that-”_

Danny stiffened at the writer’s voice. 

_“A new threat was needed to cut through the noise. And what better way than “Attack of the Toys?””_

A loud crashing made the floor rumble, and caused them to shake and stumble. “What’s going on?!”   
  
_“Ember fell to the floor, thinking ‘all this because a stranger is gone?’”_ His laughter echoed through all the reflective places in the building, though only Danny could hear it.

_“From all over town, the toys started to merge. I’m really quite wicked when I get an urge.”_

Danny ran out of the building with the two villains at his heel. They were met with monsters created from toys stolen from under trees, and clothing they would claim not to need.

_“On this night before Christmas, a brand new attacker! And now, face the wrath, of my monster nutcracker!”_

“Whoever this villain who dares to defy us, he seems to stupid to make such a fuss.” Techu threw blue fire as the giant wooden creature tit up like a pyre. 

_“What- how- I should’ve known. With that black star they have sewn. Mysterious little bastards, I swear. I hardly think that fight was fair.”_

Danny glared up at the sky before beginning his journey again. He didn’t know how he was going to defeat the villain or when. What he did know, however, was that he had alleys. Ember and Techu and, perhaps, Adrestia.

“You think this can stop me? This bear or this train? I’ll just fire away until no pieces remain!” Danny blasted the monster toys to bits, glaring at anything reflective and shaking his fists. “Nothing to add?”  
  
_“Danny asked. Then the answer… showed up in the form of Sam, Izuku, and Lancer. And Jazz standing silent, her eyes filled with tears, mourning the teddy bear she had loved for years.”_  
  
Jazz picked up a decapitated bearbert, the body of which among the missing. 

_“Izuku and Sam stared around at the toys, and, without missing a beat, turned on the boy with the villains they swore to defeat.”__  
__  
_“What’s wrong with you?” “How could you be so cruel?” “And here you were saying that _we_ were a tool.”  
  
The people gathered around him while the villains escaped, and he found himself staring around at the mess. Wondering why his more was always their less.

_“It seemed the whole town came out to proclaim: “Christmas is ruined!” and the ghost boy was to blame. Save for one little boy with a big pirate hat, that thought Phantom was cool. We’ll have to fix that.”_

The trees grew faces, the bushes grew claws, and they uprooted themselves to claw and trap things in their jaws.

“The siren is wailing, the ghost trees attacking! Lock up your homes, I suggest you start packing!” the newsman said loudly, while keeping the show up and puffing his chest out proudly. Like a turkey, I might add. Chaos ensued. Danny escaped the hatred of the people by hiding in the basement of his old home.

For hours the shrubs and trees attacked the people, while Danny hid away knowing only the villains believed him. Eraserhead tracked him back to his home, but couldn’t bring himself to arrest the boy curled up on the floor. A few hours later he jumped up with a plan, and all he needed was a large van.

Not long after, he’d stolen what he needed, convinced everything would return when the Ghostwriter was defeated.

“Danny stop!” 

_“Eraserhead cried, stepping in front of the young boy’s ride.”_

Danny gave a sad look to the man he idolized, then turned the entire vehicle intangible so he could ride.

Danny ran over toys and monsters in the streets, then swerved over the ice set on the roads in sheets.

“Aw shoot, I needed to return that.”

_“He mumbled and cursed.”_

“Gosh this christmas is the worst.”

He marched up the steps of a building and banged on the door. “Come out you can’t hide! I know just where to find you.”

_“But I’m still in control, just allow them to remind you!_

Danny slipped through the door, but wasn’t met with the apartment, but rather a party full of the enemies he had acquired. 

_“The door had brought him where all his foes were assembled.”_

“We’ve been waiting for you!” 

_“Skulker said with a grin.”_

“Now our holiday party can finally begin!” Box Man said happily.

Skulker pulled Danny towards the food. “Eat, drink, and be merry!”  
  
“And eat some of our Christmas goose!” Kitty offered.  
  
“For surely you know of our annual truce!” Fuko laughed at the boy’s surprised expression.

_“The truce? It’s still holding? I thought they’d dispend it! To defeat their foe-”_

“Oh the truce we defend it!”  
  
The writer’s greatest enemy, the character’s expressions. No matter your power you mustn't digress.

“We won’t fight on Christmas, one day of tranquility! But come sundown tomorrow, we resume all hostility!”

“Who all holds this truce?” Danny said as he thought. 

“The three major yakuza remaining today. The Black Star, the Todou, and the Romaji Grey.”

“And Ghostwriter’s your’s?” Danny looked to Fuko and Kitty who sat in a chair.

“Yes, so what?”  
  
“Well he broke the truce. He’s trapped me in a poem!”  
  
“That’s totally not cool!”  
  


“I’m trapped in his story, the guy’s off his nut!”  
  
“He ought to know better, let’s kick his butt!”   
  
The villains all cheered and rose from their seats. The ghostwriter tried typing faster but couldn’t make them battle, and soon there was a siren at his door. They’d called the police, Danny had contacted Eraser, and now he was being in an attempt for the boy to find peace.

_“You’re about to get burned! This story’s not over until the lesson is learned!” _He yelled, his voice echoing throughout the city. But only Danny could hear him.

“With the Ghostwriter busted, the curse takes it’s toll. The story continues, but I have no control."


	98. The villains and fiends.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are as they should be.

“Danny, it’s Christmas, why are you here,” Eraserhead said softly. “Alone on a roof with no friends or family near.”

“It’s my fault. All my fault… what happened tonight. I spoke out of anger and acted in spite. I started all of this when I picked that first fight.”   
  
“And how can you fix that,” the hero said gently. He watched as the boy’s eyes grew brighter.

“I don’t know, but I’d do anything to set things right.”   
  
The ground far below began to glow, the gifts and the toys giving a show. They hovered and spun as they fixed themselves up, then flew into the air and slid down the chimneys of the homes. 

“The gifts? They’re undamaged?” Sam said far below, and watched as Jazz’s bearbert’s body returned.

“They’re flying through the air!”

“Back where they came from… but who would-”   
  
“BEWARE!” The Box Man was hovering the boxes up high, apparently much stronger than he let sly. “The Box Man shall conquer this holiday doom!”   
  
The Lunch Lady joined him in helping the cleanup while smiling. “We couldn’t just leave you all to suffer in gloom.”   
  


The villains joined in, one by one, fixing and shipping the presents back home. All except one, Techu sat back, and watched as he trapped Youngblood on his lap. To keep the young boy from causing mischief, he kept him grounded and warm against winter.

“I’m watching it happen yet I can’t believe… that all of your enemies helped you repair Christmas Eve.”   
  
Danny just smiled and stared at the people far below, and watched as the city begin to snow. 

“Danny,” Menneki said from behind them. She looked confused, and a little cold. Her nose was pink and their were snowflakes stuck in her hair. However, she slowly began to smile. “What did I miss?”   
  


Danny was about to say something when he realized the rhyming was over. He jumped up and hugged her with a cry. “They all forgot about you!”   
  
“But you didn’t?”   
  
“Of course not!”   
  
She couldn’t but laugh. Christmas was almost over, but for them it had only just begun.


	99. Beginnings.

Menneki had obviously picked out most of the gifts. A couple for each of the kids. Strangely, they all decided to make a party out of it, and took everything to the Yamada/Aizawa household. Jazz and Nezu went as well. Yamada went all out with decorating, so the tree was big and bright. 

“What about Santa Clause?” Yamada said when the kids claimed they would be leaving right after they opened the presents already bought for them. Instead of the argument Danny expected, the kids quickly began talking about how the five of them could fit in the bunk beds and the guest bedroom. Menneki wanted to sleep on the giant teddy bear in the kids room.

“Well, it’s nice to see you happy on Christmas for once,” Jazz said, beaming at her little brother. He was smiling as he listened to his friends debate who would be handing out presents. They eventually decided on Aizawa since he wouldn’t be as excitable as Hizashi or Menneki. 

“Right…” Aizawa passed out a few gifts to the kids. They were all wrapped by Menneki, noticeable by the fact that they were wrapped flawlessly in red paper. Izuku got a new All Might hoodie, Sam got replacement for the makeup she was nearly running out of, and Danny got a wallet with pictures of his friends in a picture booth. “So you can’t forget us.” While they hadn’t bought any presents for the adults, Menneki had made many cookies including a brand new fruit dessert for Nezu. It was a pudding- like mix that he enjoyed so much she decided to add it to the cafe menu.

“Mine next! Mine next!” Yamada said, pointing to a horribly wrapped package that Aizawa had obviously wrapped for him. Inside was some new hair styler that made the man shriek in surprise. 

Aizawa’s present was last, and was just stuck in a paper bag. Mostly it was just some premium fruit packs that he liked to drink. 

Menneki sat by him on the ground, brushing the man’s hair as the kids unwrapped the last gifts she’d gotten them, each opening a Pop toy of their vigilante persona. Surprisingly, Aizawa seemed to enjoy the girl running a brush through his hair.

Danny and Sam slept on the top bunk, Izuku and Hitoshi on the bottom. Menneki returned home saying she needed to take care of the pets.

Christmas ended without any more grief. No more problems, or fighting, or sneaking save for one little leaf. Adrestia climbed through the window with care, dropping into Youngblood’s arms a red teddy bear.    
  
“Good night, my dear,” she said, ruffling his hair. “Tomorrow’s a good day and the mark of a good year.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, the year starts on january first but christmas day is only december 26. Hoewever, time is weird and I wanted to rhyme.
> 
> I have a headcanon that youngblood id actually santa because 1) his quirk makes it easy for him to create things without difficulties (including toys) and 2) his toes to clockwork makes it possible that the god helps him out with the work. Idk, let me know what u think.


	100. Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a note (an important one though)

Since I'm back to writing this story and all that I want as many people to let me know what they want as possible. Do you want more black star? You want me to hurry to get to the entrance exams? Do you want any specific villains that you haven't seen yet? Seriously,I can't read minds and I don't think you guys like the same stuff I do.


	101. Raid

Problems come in all shapes and sizes. Some can disguise themselves as a blessing… some look far worse than they really are.

“All Might!” Izuku squeaked as the number one hero landed in front of him on the beach. Sand went flying, blinding the boy momentarily. “Uh-um-sorry. I mean, I should’ve been more careful- sorry i’ve been avoiding you!”

Before the hero could even take in the kids surrounding him, Izuku had already spit out a dozen apologies. 

“Calm down my boy, I’m not angry.” True, though the hero  _ was _ extremely disappointed. “I’ve come to ask for your help in a raid. Eraserhead, Nezu, and I have been planning this for a while, and I thought you three- er, five now, I guess- would be able to help.”   
  
“What’s the raid?” Menneki asked. All Might’s eyes glanced to her and tried to remember her name.

“We’ve found the Black Star. There’s some information I’m not allowed to give, but we’ve found where they’re hiding.”   
  
Menneki nodded and put a finger on her chin while she thought. “Well, I can’t fight, but I can stay in our castle and help from there.”

All Might stepped forward and laid a hand on her shoulder. “That would be very helpful, thank you. You four-” he looked towards the other kids “-will you help us take down the Black Star?”   
  
They all nodded. 

“Great! Let’s get going. We’re having a meeting at my HQ.”   
  
“Wait, right now?” Hitoshi asked, looking at Danny then the hero. Danny was having a bad day with his powers, especially his intangibility. Twice today while practicing control he’d gotten stuck in the walls and they’d had to ask Menneki for help getting him out.    
  
“Yeah, today’s probably not the best idea.” Danny asked. 

All Might looked towards Menneki only to find she’d already left. “We need to go, now. It’s an emergency. There’s a good possibility that you four won’t even have to fight.”

With a sigh, Danny nodded and they all started off. All Might carried Izuku, Danny grabbed Hitoshi and Sam. Luckily for them, they always wore their suits under their normal outfits. 

All Might rushed into a room with heroes that the Phantom Patrol had worked with or ran away from at one time or another. They all stood around the table, chatting or arguing about the mission. There were only two people actually sitting at the table, Eraserhead and Nezu.

As the doors shut, the heroes turned and stared at the kids who now had their faces covered in their regular masks. 

“What’s going on?” Danny whispered. Eraserhead’s eyes flickered with pity momentarily before Nezu stood.

“We have good reason to suspect Menneki is Adrestia.” Was all he said before sitting back down. Everybody watched the kids for a moment to see their reaction. Would they deny it? Agree? Did they know and just not care, or was this young villain just very convincing?   
  
“That can’t be true. Kohi-chan would never hurt people!” Hitoshi was the first to speak, his voice twisted up from the voice changer he wore. His eyes teared up under the mask. “You don’t have any proof!”   
  
Somebody brought up a map of the city on the television hanging on the wall near the front. A small red dot was going through the streets faster than the speed limit should allow. 

“I put a tracker on her,” All Might sighed. “If she’s heading to the place you call ‘the castle’ please tell us. If not, that’s the direction of the Black Star HQ we’ve discovered.”   
  
“Discovered how?” Sam asked. 

“A young girl on the inside was feeding us information.” Eraserhead replied. Heroes had begun taking their seats, including All Might. 

“ _ Was _ ? As in, not anymore?” Izuku asked. The hero sighed.

“She betrayed us a couple weeks ago. She goes by Hanahaki, she’s around 13. Her quirk allows her to grow flowers like roses out of living flesh. She’s also Menneki’s younger sister, it seems.”   
  
“Kohi-chan doesn’t have any younger siblings.” Hitoshi ground his teeth. 

“Fine. She’s  _ Adrestia’s _ younger sister.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Danny said, watching as the red dot stopped moving and settled in a warehouse near the ocean. It stayed there, unmoving.

“It’s simple, and very dangerous. If you four decide not to assist us at any time, you can back out.”   
  
The four made a promise in their private chat to not give up.

\----------

Haru the little white crow sat on the railing of the stairs watching the front door for the law enforcement to knock it down. A little device sat in Haru’s beak, a tracker meant for Adrestia. But she wasn’t there. Nobody was there, actually. The building was dim and dusty. Youngblood’s toy-box was dusty and the beds were missing their blankets. The only thing the Black Star had taken with them were clothes, toiletries, blankets to guard against the cold, and food. They all ran, and left the little crow behind because they knew he’d escape.

All at once throughout the building the windows were kicked in as heroes forced their way inside. Haru jumped in surprise and dropped the tracker before flying out the open window in the kitchen. Nobody minded the animal and instead searched for the villains.

Haru searched the redeviou point, searching for his friends and family. Under a bridge sat bags overflowing with clothes. Blood splattered against the walls and the van that Seshat was supposed to drive them to safety was empty besides dust in the passenger seat.

Adrestia’s blindfold sat in a puddle of blood and dust, but the girl was nowhere to be seen.

“Hello?” Haru said, looking around for Youngblood as fear settled in his bones. “Hello?!”    
  
He flew in circles around the scene, screaming for Youngblood. 

“Haru?” A whisper came from the water. Youngblood was holding onto Wendigo’s back as she crawled out of the water and knelt on the concrete edge. “Haru, it was terrible. Scary. Haru!”   
  
The boy began crying and reached out to the bird until it flew over and landed on his shoulder.

“It’s alright, you’re safe now.”

“No we aren’t.” Wendigo stood with Youngblood still on her back and began running the direction Haru came from. “We need to get to the heroes, we need to-”   
  
Her foot met open air as the ground opened up in a dark purple portal. Youngblood screamed as she ripped him off her back and threw him out of the portals reach. 

“Wendigo!” He screamed, but Haru’s weak tugging on his arm was enough to make the boy jump up and run away. “Somebody please help me!”


	102. Damaged Goods

The detective watched as the boy sniffled and held his pet to his chest carefully. “I’m going to ask you questions, and you’re going to answer honestly.”   
  
The boy nodding quickly.

“Where did Adrestia and her gang go?”   
  
“I don’t know. They were attacked. A big purple portal opened and she pushed me and Wendigo into the water. I had to come up for air, and I saw a hand guy turning people to dust…” The boy’s lip trembled as tears rolled down his face. “They took big sister and papa Seshat and brother Tengu through the portal.”   
  
“And everybody else?”   
  
“Some of- of the imps and demons weren’t there at the warehouse. Some of them- many of them liked living elsewhere, so they weren’t there under the bridge.”   
  
The detective decided to change the subject from the boy’s missing family. “What did Adrestia promise you if you stayed with the gang.”   
  
“She said they would be a new family and they were. They were so nice and played with me any time i asked.”

“But didn’t you miss your real family?”   
  
“My parents don’t love me, but I did miss b-big sister Momo.” 

The detective wanted to ask what the child meant by his parents not loving him, but decided against it. His sister had been the first to arrive at the station when she found out he was here, but his parents had yet to come or even say they would pick him up.

“Would you like to see your sister?”   
  
The boy nodded, eyes somewhat hopeful. The detective left, giving permission to Momo in the hallway for her to see him as long as she was accompanied by a hero or policeman. 

“Everything he said was true.” the detective said, glancing through the one way glass at the young boy talking to his sister on the other side. Both of the kids looked relieved, but Youngblood’s eyes kept darting to the wall like somebody was there and making him uncomfortable.

“So, somebody with some sort of disintegration quirk took out the majority of the Clan and kidnapped a few of the members, including two of the higher ranked ones?” Eraserhead sighed. More proof towards Menneki being Adrestia came in the form of them both missing at the same time. What was more sad than anything was that Tengu, the bat winged boy, was recently identified as a fourteen year old boy who was just bigger due to his quirk.

Eraserhead worried about the kids for the rest of the day. That night, as he sat at his table and staring at the child’s room door, knowing Youngblood was asleep on the other side, a light knock at the front door was enough to make him startle out of his seat.

“Hitoshi?” He said surprised. The boy was in his casual clothes and had a hat flattening his hair so it hid his tearing eyes.

“I need a break, dad,” he whispered. “You said… you told me I’d be welcome home anytime.”

“And I stand by my word. Come in. We’re hosting Youngblood since his parents never came to the police station to take him back.”    
  
“They spent all that money for private detectives to look for him, and now they aren’t even going to claim him?” Hitoshi looked towards the child’s room door sadly.

Eraserhead nodded and sighed. “He’s had a rough couple days. I’m surprised he hasn’t woken us up with nightmares yet. He watched people he cared about turn to dust.”   
  
“Do you know if… my sister…”   
  
“He gave us a list of people who died. The twins, Raijin and Fujin, Pooka, and Tsukumegami. Your sister is fine as far as we know, but we aren’t sure if the villains who did this would hunt down the stranglers.”

Hitoshi took shaky breaths as he tried to push the grief down deep into his chest.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered before hugging Eraserhead. “I should’ve known what Menneki was. Perhaps I did, and just didn’t want to accept it. I don’t know. I don’t-”

“It’s alright, Hitoshi. She was one of the better villains too, it we’re being honest. Her values are the same as a vigilante I knew once, Stendhal. The only difference was that she wanted to give people the chance to be good before they died or joined her.”

“I never noticed the similarities between Menneki and Adrestia. But the one thing they both had in common is they never raised their fists.” His face twisted up before he finally broke down.

Hitoshi sobbed into his dad’s chest, mumbling about wanting her back. She could still be a hero, with help and a shrink.

“She’s not broken, just damaged. We can help her, we have to help her.”


	103. Selfishness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hmm... Danny doesnt remember every hearing about extended family.

A week ago if you asked Danny if he wished things could go back to normal he would say yes, then sigh and say it was impossible. Now, as he watches from the side walk as the last of the reconstruction on the Fenton House was being finished, he wishes that he was back at home at the castle. 

Home seemed like a strange word in his mouth.

Sam and Izuku had both gone back to their family, though they’d admitted they would probably end up running away from the mundane life set out for them. Izuku couldn’t stand his mother’s overprotective nature, though he was flattered by it. Sam was always annoyed by her mother’s constant nagging for her to wear “girlier” clothes.

*”Well! Doesn’t that look nice!” Jack looked up at the new Fenton Works sign hanging on the front of the building. Somehow, Nezu and a couple other heroes had found evidence that they had been framed. Maddee was talking about it with Jazz near the front door, but Danny couldn’t focus enough on anything to figure out what they were talking about.

*”Yes, yes. Beautiful, amazing, just  _ fantastic. _ ” Danny replied to his father absently as he made his way into the building. The stairs had been replaced, along with any walls that had been blown out. The carpet was being replaced in the living room, and the building had a layer of sawdust everywhere, but it was safe to be in the building for once. 

Danny’s room was bare. There was no carpeting, and the windows had cardboard over them since there was no glass. Despite everything that had happened in the building and the people who had squatted in the empty building, the closet was left untouched. The smell of laundry detergent was gone, and there was dust covering every inch of the inside, but everything was there.

Danny pulled a pile of sleeping bags out and laid them out on the ground, curling up on them. 

“Danny?” Jazz asked as she opened the door slowly. She took one look at the boy’s dead eyes and entered. “Are you alright?”   
  
Danny shook his head and stared at the wall while she entered and closed the door behind her. “Everything’s changing. And when it changes it’s always for the worse.”   
  
Jazz sat down beside him, looking into the closet at all the junk that had been shoved inside. Dirty clothes were crumpled in a heap on the ground, along with broken toys and garbage. It was one of the places he’d hide stuff when he needed to clean his room. “It can be a change for the better, you just have to make it that way. Enjoy life! You’ve still got your friends.”   
  
“No I don’t.”   
  
“Is this about Hitoshi going to live with his parents? Because I think that’s a little selfish of you-”

“It’s not about him!” Danny sat up and glared at her. “Menneki is  _ gone _ . She could be dead, or being tortured while I’m  _ here  _ listening to you lecture me about selfishness!”   
  


Jazz looked away, immediately regretting jumping to conclusions. “I’m sorry Danny. But, hey, you aren’t thinking about going after her are you? I get that you thought she was a friend, but I thought you understood she was just pretending.”   
  
Danny stood, changing form without a word and phasing through the floor. Jazz called out for him to “wait!” and “come back!” but he ignored her. He quickly made his way through the house and out the back door. 

  
Within minutes he was in the group chat with his three friends remaining. 

DANNYBANANY: hey you guys good for the first day tomorrow?

SAMTHEPSYCHIC: fuck no.

RABBITBOY: YEAH!   
  


PURPLEPEOPLE: ugh. school. you think i could convince my dads i’m sick

DANNYBANANY: 100 says you can’t.

PURPLEPEOPLE: you’re on

SAMTHEPSYCHIC: you all want to celebrate our last night of freedom before living somewhere the heroes are always watching.

DANNYBANANY: thanks. i was hoping you’d mess with my anxiety.

RABBITBOY: let’s go to the library!   
  
PURPLEPEOPLE: rabbit boy sits out the decision making.

RABBITBOY: hey!   
  
SAMTHEPSYCHIC: shoppppppppping in Harajuku! Takashita streeeeet!

PURPLEPEOPLE: and sams out too. It’s up to you danny

DANNYBANANY: i want to search for Menneki

_ ...Several people are tying… _

Danny stopped mid step and stared at his phone for a second as his friends tried to word their thoughts in a way that wouldn’t upset anybody.

“Heya!” Somebody said above him. Danny jumped and looked up at the fire escape down an alley. A young girl sat there, legs kicking as she sat on the railing. “What’s your name?”   
  
Danny stuttered, staring at the child’s to-big clothing. Her red beany flattened her long midnight black hair down. A long and baggy blue sweatshirt would’ve hid her hands completely if it weren’t for them being rolled up a few times. It was winter, and therefore to cold to be wearing anything less than jeans, yet she was wearing shorts that barely passed her knees.

“It’s too cold for you to be dressed like this,” Danny blurted out. The girl smirked and jumped down. She skipped over to him, held out her hand, and smiled up at him.

“Heya, my name’s Danielle. I’m your cousin three times removed. I ran away and was gonna sneak into your house but there were people inside so I couldn’t sneak in. Say, you got any food? I’m starving.”   
  
Such a simple explanation, and one that could easily be true, yet Danny hesitated to shake her hand.

“Um, Danny Phantom.” He took her hand and shook it quickly. When nothing appeared to go wrong, he smiled at her a little. “Come on, I know the perfect place to get some coffee and sugar.”   
  
“Where?”   
  
“A little coffee shop called the Kuria Kafe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how this chapter went this way. I haven't actually plotted out a chapter since... Chaos.


	104. Sorry

Aizawa had made it his responsibility to run the little cafe that bordered on permanent closure. Hitoshi tried to convince his dad to let him work there, but the hero refused. The kid had to attend a real school now, afterall.

“Welcome to the Kuria Kafe how may I- oh it’s you.” Aizawa’s eyes looked dead as he spoke. There were a few young people bustling around helping customers and cleaning tables.

“I’ve never seen this many people working here at once,” Danny said, leading Danielle to the counter. “Order what you want Danielle.” 

The little girl stared at the glass stand for a moment. There were messily made cookies inside, though a lot of things had been taken off the menu. She pointed at one of the few things that could be eaten as a meal, a large bagel with the top half white and bottom black. The inside was filled with mint green cream cheese. 

“Who is she?” Aizawa leaned over the counter and whispered to him. 

“She says she’s my cousin. Claims she ran away from home.” Danny whispered back. 

“I want that bagel and a hot coco.” Danielle stared around the cafe until her eyes landed on a purple door decorated with a trail of white paw prints painted on it. “What’s in there.”

“That’s the cat room, you can go in if you want.” Aizawa replied as he began grabbing the drinks and food for them. She hurried inside and disappeared from their view.

“Who is she, Danny?” Aizawa asked.

“The timing surprised me, too. She might be a spy or something, I just need to make or slip up.” Danny sighed and leaned on the    
  
“So you know she’s lying, and you’re going to go with it anyways?”   
  
“Yes.”   
  
Danny accepted a couple drinks and food Aizawa handed him and made his way to the cat room. Hitoshi was inside, playing with Viking and a black cat he had found in the streets only a few days prior. It was skinny, but looked friendly enough.

“What’s her name?” Danielle asked as she watched the black cat hop around. 

“Kuria, after the cafe,” Hitoshi replied. Danny sat down beside the girl at the table on the floor. Viking made her way over and laid in his lap, used to him from their time together at the castle. The cat made his heart hurt… a reminder of Menneki.

“Are you getting ready for the exams?” Hitoshi asked, smiling as Kuria rolled over herself trying to grab the feather toy. “I know Izuku is hurrying to catch up where he fell behind.”

“He fell behind? I didn’t think that was possible.”   
  
The conversation went on like that for a while as Danielle watched. She looked confused, but slowly she relaxed as if she was connecting the names. She didn’t speak, and neither boy seemed to notice.

“By the way, this is my cousin Danielle, I guess she ran away from home and came here.”   
  
Hitoshi looked confused, then slowly understood what Danny had. “So, what’s your quirk?”   
  
“Don’t got one.”   
  
Her face blanked out. Her eyes grew dull as Hitoshi’s quirk took affect. “What should I ask her?” He asked Danny.    
  


“Ask her where she’s from.”   
  
“Tell me where you are from.”

_ “Wisconsin.” _

Hitoshi sighed. “Why aren’t you in Wisconsin right now?”   
  
_ “Dad told me to leave.” _

Danny looked sad as he stared at the girl. Hitoshi’s connection broke and she woke up. She wouldn’t remember most of this of course, just be confused by the fact that the cat had moved three feet in less than a second. A lapse of time. 

“Wow, I totally zoned out there for a minute, huh?” She laughed shakily. “Sorry guys.”

“It’s alright, it’ll be alright Danielle.” Danny pulled her into a hug. “I’ll help you.”   
  
She looked sad for a moment before burying her face in his jacket. He was colder than her, hands like ice. But she ran warm. She didn’t need a jacket, Danny realized the moment he felt her head against his shoulder. She was like a fire, burning anything she touched, but beautiful in her own way. She whispered against him.

“I’m so sorry.”


	105. Villain attack

“Favorite band?” Sam asked.

“Dumpty Humpty of course.” Danielle replied absently. She shuffled through the CDs on Sam’s bookshelf.

“Favorite hobby?”

“Hobby? Hmm… I kind of like seeing the stars. I wonder what’s up there, you know? To bad the countries have given up traveling through space.”

“What’s your quirk?” Izuku asked before Sam could ask another question.

“Don’t have one.” Danielle finally found a cd she recognized and popped it into the player. “Now this is a good song!” 

Of course, it was a Dumpty Humpty cd. Rock and roll. She tapped her foot to the song and smiled at the others. They all watched the girl as she danced a little and began searching the room for other things. 

A crash outside startles them. Sam and Izuku ran to the window. “Villain!”

Danny looks at Danielle with a sad look before transforming, but wasn’t met with the surprised look he expected. He flew through the wall and hurried towards the villain down the street. The villain had a strength quirk, obvious by the way he picked up and threw vehicles around like dolls. He only wore torn black pants and had a spiked collar and bracelets. 

“Wow there Frankenmonster, what’s up?”

The villain let out a powerful howl that sent Danny flying backwards. The boy crashed into a building, but was immediately back on his feet to dodge a fist crashing into the ground where he’d been lying. 

“I guess you don’t like Frankenmonster. How about- watch it!” Danny was interrupted by his (probably not) witty insult on the villain’s face by a fist nearly crushing the boy’s skull. “Not very polite are you? Don’t you know not to interrupt somebody when they’re talking?” 

Danny was fast and nimble, but the sheer strength of the villain made the punches and kicks fly to fast for the boy to turn intangible. Then there was the matter of stamina. The villain had the upper hand since he didn’t seem to tire no matter how hard he fought.

Danny yelped as a foot made contact with his gut and sent him flying into a lap post. 

“Danny!” Danielle screamed as she ran over and stood between him and the villain. Black and white rings all to familiar to the vigilantes surrounded her, separating to show a suit similar to Danny’s. Her white hair was pulled back into a pony tail, but it was still wild and recognizable. Blue eyes to green, ragged clothing to a clean black and white jumpsuit. 

It was Danielle’s turn to be surprised when Danny was not. She attacked the villain, giving Danny time to recover a bit and charge in. Together the two kids were able to subdue the villain long enough for the pros to arrive. As the law enforcement arrived, Danny pulled the young girl into an alley and into the sewers.

“Who are you,” Danny said as he led her through the tunnels. He didn’t know his way around that well, but it was enough that he wouldn’t get lost. 

“I’m Danielle, like I said.” 

“How did you get your powers?”

No response. Danielle just went silent. Danny turned to see why, only to find he couldn’t see the girl. A blue mist slipped through his lips and he continued his walk through the tunnels. “I know you’re just invisible, and I don’t care. I’m taking you to a place I know you’ll be safe at. We call it the castle.”

The girl sighed and returned to her normal look. She seemed to like her red hat and pockets. “I’m really sorry I lied about the whole ‘quirkless’ thing. You get it though, don’t you? Sometimes it’s better to pretend you don’t have one.”

Danny spun around and grabbed onto Danielle’s shoulders. “No, I don’t like pretending. My friend Izuku and I, we were always quirkless. Look, Danielle, I get that you don’t like your powers, but sometimes it’s worse to not have them.”

She nodded and looked at him in a way that made him realize that, while their circumstances where the exact opposite, with her being born with a quirk and him being born without, they were treated the same. 

_She’s to young to suffer this way._

Danny was never the doting kind, that was Menneki’s thing. She was motherly and sisterly all at the same time. If she was here, she would pull this girl into a hug and promise to protect her forever.

“I’m sorry,” Danny whispered, pulling the girl into a gentle hug. 

“Me too. You think I know something about your missing friend, don’t you. I don’t.”

Danny somehow knew she was telling the truth. “That’s alright, now come on, we have places to go. There’s clothing in there for you, and a warm bed. My dog, Cujo, lives there too until I can find some way to convince my parents to let him live with us.”

Danielle was silent the entire way there.


	106. Traps

Danny woke up to Danielle shaking him awake. She was supposed to be at the castle, but she’d flown here from the beach.   
  
“What are you doing?”   
  
“There’s a villain in the park nearby!” She whispered urgently. She pulled him up out of the sleeping bag pile he was on. “Come on!”   
  
He quickly changed form and followed her through the walls and towards the park. She lingered behind him as he landed and began searching the trees for the villain.

“Daniel, my boy, what a surprise!”    
  
Danny turned towards the voice, surprised to see Vlad hovering a few feet above the ground. “Vlad? What are you doing here?”   
  
The boy’s voice wasn’t as hate filled as it once was, and the man seemed to falter at it. He didn’t speak, just looked shocked at the boy until he spoke again.

“Believe it or not, but I’m not sure I hate you as much as I used to.” Danny stood up straighter, looking between the villain and Danielle with sad eyes. “I wish you hadn’t used a child to get to me though.”   
  
“You’ve grown more intelligent, little badger, but it seems not enough to keep yourself from falling into a trap.”    
  
Danny was ready for an attack, but he didn’t realize the Vlad he was speaking to was nothing more than a clone. A sudden electric current coursed through the young boy as the real Vlad sent lightning into his back. Danny’s screams echoed through the streets, but the villain and his daughter had already grabbed the boy and disappeared into the sky when the patrolling hero made it to the spot where the crime had been committed.

“Danny?” Eraserhead said, staring at a glove dropped into the grass. There was nothing to trace, since they’d escaped by air. Luckily, Izuku was jogging late like usual, and caught sight of the villain fleeing the area.

\---------

“Spying on me, seriously? You really are a froot loop.” Danny spat. He glared at the villain, hoping to focus on the man rather than the fact that he was dangling from a machine that could torture him to death at the press of a button.

“A fruit loop would have been able to make his first million with a series of invisible burglaries. A frootloop wouldn’t have been able to think up A fruit loop would never have thought to overshadow enough millionaires to become the riches men on the planet. I. Am. Not. A. Fruit. Loop! And I am not a villain. All I wanted was love. It's taken months, and the good clone still needs more time before he can accept your DNA.” 

“Clones? You mean…” Danny looked around at a few villains standing around the room. They all looked off. Broken. “Those are clones of me?”   
  
“Bad clones. Mistakes. And I would watch a hundred more failures devolve into ectoplasm to get the perfect half clone ghost son.” 

“Not loopy, you say,” Danny muttered. He searched for Danielle in the group of failed clones, hoping Vlad didn’t include her in it. She was far more intelligent than them, and more stable by the look of things.

“Are you under the impression that you're getting out of this? I need a DNA sample of you mid-morph to complete my work.” Vlad snapped his fingers and one of the clones, the one that looked closest to Danny, tried to possess him. 

Danny struggled, pushing against the invading force until the clone fled his body. It flew towards Vlad, as if to ask for help, before falling to the floor and slowly melting to a green acid that ate at the concrete. 

_ “Neutralizer overloading dear heart.” _ A hologram of Yurei said. The machine blocking Danny’s power explodes. “ _ Whoopsy! Has overloaded.” _

Danny turned intangible and fled through the walls.

“Am I a mistake too? An imperfection?” Daneille asked as she turned visible in front of her father.

“How- how long have you been there? Um, I mean, of course, I don't think that! Dearest, I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about the other clones.” They stared at the pile of green acid begin to melt through the floor. “I’d better clean that up. I need you to get Daniel, so that I can stabilize you. My greatest creation.”   
  
Danielle smiled and flew off, leaving Vlad to clean up the acid burning through his floor.

\-----

The search for Phantom was not going as planned. 

They searched through the night, both the heroes and vigilantes. Hitoshi even joined much to his parents’ dismay. At some point Izuku arrived at the park with Cujo and one of Danny’s dirty socks. The boy’s sent was caught and they followed the dog to a beach, then watched as the dog whimpered at the water.

“So, he’s been taken over seas?” Aizawa said, staring at the water. Izuku and Sam shared a look, one that confused Hitoshi.

_ “We can’t tell them, _ ” Izuku said through the chat. Sam nodded in agreement. 

_ “What about Hitoshi-” _

She was cut off as Eraserhead canceled her quirk. “If you have something to say you can tell all of us.”   
  
She shook her head. “We’re leaving. We’ll find Danny on our own.”

“Who was it that took him,” Eraserhead demanded. Sam looked pained, but shook her head to refuse answering. He glared at her, but didn’t have time to react before Cujo suddenly transformed and ran past the three kids. Each grabbed onto the dog’s long fur and let him carry them away. The hero learned something interesting that day.

His quirk didn’t work on Cujo.


	107. Shadows of the real world

Danny yelped as he got blasted in the back by Danielle.

“Give it up, you can’t defeat me.”   
  
“I don’t want to fight you. Last time I fought a clone they turned to goo.” He glanced down at the young girl’s feet, which were beginning to melt. She followed his gaze and cried out in fear. “But you’re not mindless like the other clones, I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Then let my father have your DNA so he can save me.”   
  
“ But, he's not going to save you. He's using you. You're nothing but a mess he's not gonna clean up.” Danny gasped for air as he stood back up. His body felt stiff and sore from being forcibly possessed. It left behind an odd feeling like hands poking at his insides. 

“You’re a liar! And I’m gonna prove it!”    
  
Danny was knocked out by another blast pushing him backwards. He woke up in a capsule similar to the ones the clones had been made in. It was the perfect size for him. Just outside the glass door Danny could see Vlad messing with buttons and levers. 

“Now, let’s try this again.” The man said before switching something on.    
  
Electricity coarsed through Danny’s body. He screamed in pain, but refused to change form. 

_ It’ll be fun Danny! _

Little blue bolts danced over the boy’s skin as he screamed and tried to forget. Forget what?   
  
_ Wait, lemme get a photo. _

Danny’s screams were enough to twist Danielle’s expression into one of fear. Over and over Vlad would electrocute Danny, slowly adding scars to the young boy’s body. Time went slowly. How long had they been there? How long had she been forced to watch her father torture her friend? Lightning seemed to decorate his arms and legs where he was cuffed to the machine.

“Stop you’ll kill him!” Danielle finally screamed. She pushed her father away, switching the console off. Vlad glared at her, but quickly controlled himself.

“If you could just possess him, you could force him to transform.”

“But- but the last one turned to goop.”   
  
“You’re stronger than that one was.”   
  
“But I could die!” Danielle glanced towards Danny. The boy was staring off into space with dull, green eyes. Little blue marks had made their way up his arms and up to just above his jaw.

“You exist to serve me!” Vlad growled, grabbing Danielle’s arm hard enough that his claws dug into her skin. She yelped as green blood dripped from her skin, then she glared at him.

“I didn’t want to believe him, but he was right!” She pressed the release button, sending Danny tumbling out of the pod and into a heap on the floor.

“No! You little-!”   
  
“Let her go.” Danny’s voice echoed around the room, louder than any of the buzzing machines. He stared at Vlad, eyes dull and dead. Ice creeped across the floor and up the walls. It forced itself between cracks in the pods, expanding to rip the machines to pieces. 

Vlad didn’t let go, even when the boy rose a hand and seemed to telekinetically pulled her towards him.

“LET HER GO!” He screamed, his voice turning into a roar. Vlad was pushed back and let go of his daughter, only to find she was pulled towards Danny instead of being pushed back by the roar as well.

_ “Prime clone destabilized, my dearest.” _ The Yurei hologram said as the only clone left began melting to goop in his chamber.

“No!” Vlad yelled. He turned back to the kids, eyes murderous, but something seemed to stop him from attacking. Perhaps it was the way Danielle was shaking and crying behind Danny. Or, maybe it the way Danny stared at the spot where Vlad had been standing with a dead look in his eyes. He couldn’t see anything, and Vlad wasn’t sure the boy was entirely awake. 

Danny’s blue scars seemed to glow blue with the electricity that randomly danced across his skin. Without a word, Danny took Danielle’s hand and flew them through the ceiling and away from the destroyed lab.

\-----

A few miles from the lab, a young boy settles down on the ground with his back against a tree stump. Danielle sits with him, taking his hand slowly coaxing him out of his dissociated state. With patients and a gentle hand, the young girl is able to bring him to consciousness.

“Danielle?” Danny mumbled, his speech slurred. He looked around, able to process where they were after a couple more seconds. “Why are we in a forest?”   
  
Danielle just laughed with tears finally falling. “We escaped. I’m so sorry, I should’ve listened to you.”   
  
Danny tried to remember what happened, but everything just came back in pieces. “You betrayed him for me.”   
  
She nodded. “Yes, and we need to leave before he comes after us.”   
  
Danny barely processed her pulling him to his feet and making him walk after her. Where were they? City lights could be seen in the distance as night fell. He grabbed Danielle’s hands and flew into the air.

“We need to hurry,” he said as he soared through the air. 

“Why?”   
  
He tried to think of an answer to that question, but instead found himself sitting on a bench. He couldn’t remember how he got there, just that Eraserhead was holding his hands and talking to him.    
  
“Danny? Danny can you hear me?” The hero asked. Sirens were flashing, illuminating the park with colors the boy couldn’t remember the names for. 

“Where am I?” Danny said, recognizing the odd play structures and the beautiful garden. It looked so  _ familiar _ but he couldn’t think straight.

“You’re at the park near your home remember?”   
  
Eraserhead was kneeling in front of Danny, holding his hands in his and staring up at the boy’s face. There were no scars showing, but a few burns and there was blood on Danny’s clothing from various scrapes and cuts on his arms and legs.

“Where’s Danielle?”   
  
The hero stood up straighter. “Who’s Danielle?”   
  
Danny mumbled something, then began staring at the ground in a panic. “She’s not here. She’s not here. She can’t be here, I was flying for her.”   
  
Eraserhead jumped up and pulled Danny into a hug to stop him from leaving the park bench. He continued repeating out loud “She’s not here.” over and over until the ambulance finally arrived, then went quiet. 

“She’s not here,” he sighed in relief, studying the ground and smiling slightly. “She’s safe.”   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if I wrote dissociation well.


	108. In the hospital

Danny Fenton is afraid of lightning- electricity- of being shocked. It brings back memories of the worst day of his life… or, the first traumatic experience he survived. He can still hear them the day he woke up in the hospital, though they were faint.

_ “Come on Danny, it’ll be fun!” _ Sam had said. It had taken so much convincing for Danny to go inside the machine. 

_ “Wait, I want to take a picture!” _ Sam snapped a photo of him putting on his lab jumpsuit. 

Danny lays in bed and listened to the day repeat over and over, squeezing his eyes shut every time he gets to the part where he accidently turns it on. He wants to not see the electricity around him, but the memory is burned into the back of his eye lids. 

Despite not being in Phantom form, Danny is able to see small silver scars on his wrists and ankles from the cuffs that had electrocuted him in Vlad’s lab. He couldn’t stand looking at them.

“Danny?” A voice said at the door. Jazz stood there with a small wrapped box and a frown. She looked like she was studying him.

“Hey Jazz.”   
  
She smiled slightly and made her way over, sitting at the edge of the bed and plopping the gift onto Danny’s lap. He smiled slightly and quickly ripped the wrapping off. Inside was a build your own rocket kit. It was random, but Danny just smiled and thanked her.

“You missed two days of school,” she replied. “And you’ve only got two weeks before the entrance exams to UA. Please, Danny, you have to be careful.”   
  
Danny sighed. “We were all going to start together. Menneki was going to join the support department. Sam wanted to go into business. Hitoshi and Izuku, this was their dream. They wanted to be heroes not me.”   
  
Jazz stared up at the ceiling in thought for a moment. “I remember when you became obsessed with space. I was doing a project for school about stars and I brought you up to the roof to look through a microscope I made dad buy for me. You were three, and you were so happy looking through that little device that I decided to build that love up. It wasn’t much. All I did was ask mom and dad for a coloring book and a few glow in the dark stars. You did the rest.”   
  
“What does this have to do with anything?”   
  
“You and I are the same in that we don’t crush peoples dreams, we build them up. Sam is no longer going into business, she’s working to be a hero. Izuku and Hitoshi both have a better shot at being a hero than before you started as a vigilante. It wasn’t your dream to become a hero, yet you did anyways. You’ve suffered far more than most for it.” She looked sad, staring at her little brother.

He looked so small at the moment, far to small for that bed and all the injuries that had been bandaged up. His eyes had dark circles under them and he was paler than she’d seen him in a long time.

“And you? What will you do?” He asked. She smiled slightly.

“I’m a transfer student to UA, Danny. Technically, I’m a first year student of the hero course.”   
  
The boy looked surprised, and she realized that she’d forgotten to tell him that she was training to be a hero. Slowly his face fell.

“I can’t be a hero,” he whispered. His bottom lip trembled like he was going to cry.

“Why not?” 

He rubbed away some tears as they fell. “I can’t, I can’t do this anymore. Please, Jazz, I don’t want to do this any more.”   
  
“Then stop being a vigilante.”   
  
She hugged him as he took shaky breaths and choked back a sob. He nodded into her shoulder.    
  
“Okay. Okay, I’ll give it up. No more fighting villains until I’m a real hero.”


	109. Exams

Danny would’ve been surprised by the size of the city like the other examinees if he hadn’t already been there and done that. Tag in the city was the exact opposite of this exam, but he was still practiced enough to win. He rubbed his eyes, already missing his friends. He’d never fought villains completely alone… except for that first battle with Vlad and that didn’t go well.

He waited for Present Mic tell them to begin and shot off towards the city.

“What’s wrong? The test has started! Run! Run!!” Present Mic’s voice seemed to echo for a moment before the other examinees ran full force into the city. Danny could only imagine that the other city examinees were doing the same as the people behind him.

“ _ Did your group hesitate too?”  _ Sam’s voice asked. It was staticy due to her distance from him, and she wasn’t able to link the others.

_ “Hesitation will get them killed.” _ Danny moved farther away from Sam, attacking a couple robots. He didn’t need to change form to use his superstrength anymore, though it was difficult to put a lot of power behind his fist. His attack was just enough to disable his opponent, but it wasn’t very flashy like some of the other examinees.

By some bit of bad luck, Danny ended up in the same city as Bakugou, and everytime they saw each other, Blasty would curse him out before running the opposite way. 

By the time the zero pointer, a creation taller than even the buildings with a predetermined need to destroy everything in its path, Danny had already earned fifty points so while the zero pointer ran through the city, he ran around pulling people out of the way of rubble and danger. The buzzer rang, and Danny wanted to believe he had gotten enough points from just destroying robots, but the rejoicing of several people and how they chatted about everything they defeated worried him.

In the end, nobody was injured.

\------------------

Sam ran through the gates the moment Present Mic told them too. She didn’t know what she was going to do, she was more fit than the others in their little vigilante group, but she had no powers useful for this sort of fight. She was in the same boat as Hitoshi, looking for a piece of rubble she could use as a weapon. She ended up stealing a long, sharp spike that some kid with a mutation quirk grew out of his back. He was like a porcupine, and could remake the quills at will.

Running through the streets and towards the heart of the city, Sam used the quill as a sword, cutting through any exposed wires of the robots. At some she had very little luck, especially when the quill broke against the metal armor of a 2 pointer. She ran around for the rest of the time, attacking using rubble she picked up off the ground. 

The zero pointer began raising from the ground and Sam immediately tried to connect anybody near the giant robot. Some of them let her in and the chat room was filled with the panicked voices of the examinees. Some of them called out for fun, and Sam found herself running to help people stuck in the path of the robot. 

She worried that helping others was a mistake on her part, since she knew she wouldn’t have the time to defeat any more villains. But she threw away the thought and helped a girl escape the rubble and hurry away.

_ “Heroes put the life of others above their own all the time, _ ” she said in the chat. It was one of the few things everybody inside agreed on. Others began to help people unable to escape the zero pointer on their own.

In the end, the only thing crushed was Sam’s dreams of being in the hero course.

\---------------

Hitoshi ran as soon as Present Mic said to. He didn’t have to look back to see people hesitated, he just listened to what his father said.

“What’s wrong? The test has started! Run! Run!!” 

A boy with yellow hair and comfortable looking sweatpants ran alongside Hitoshi and smiled. “Heya! I’m gonna follow you!”   
  
  


“Wha- Why?”   
  
“You look like you know what you’re doing!” 

Hitoshi didn’t know what to say to that, so he continued running. He went past a couple 1 pointers, heading deeper and deeper into the city with the boy at his heels. When he was at the heart, he skidded to a halt, standing right beside a pole. A 2 pointer aimed and fired at the boy, but missed and dug up the pole from the ground. Hitoshi grabbed it and ran over to the villain, stabbing the pole into a chink in its armor and ripping its arm off.

The act of losing an arm was considered defeat because it shut down and toppled over. 

“Wow!” The blond boy said. “My name’s Kaminari Denki by the way.”   
  
“Hitoshi Shinso, now hurry up. Ten minute time limit, remember?” Hitoshi said as he ran through the streets again. 

“You go that way, I’ll go this way.” He said when they came to a fork in the road. As directed, Denki went the other way, hopefully getting lots of defeats in. Hitoshi, with all his training and practice, could only do so much with his pole and a quirk useless against robots. He followed the limited directions Menneki had left behind in her journal to earn points.

The zero pointer shook the ground as it rose, Hitoshi ran through the streets to find the boy who had been following him into dangerous land. 

_ Denki was his name. _ Hitoshi had to remind himself. 

The blond haired boy was wandering around a street with a brain dead look complete with a smile and two thumbs up.    
  
“Denki!” Hitoshi yelled, grabbing the boy and pulling him away from falling rubble as the zero pointer destroyed the buildings around them. With how out of it Denki was, he somehow seemed to understand the word “RUN!” and darted after Hitoshi as they ran through the streets.

In the end, nobody was injured.

\------------------

Izuku hesitated in running through the gate for a moment too long and ended up behind everybody. He didn’t seem to understand that hovering around others will make it impossible to find a robot to defeat. He ran around frantically as time ran down. Izuku felt like crying, but wiped his tears away. His heroes were watching, he couldn’t afford to fall apart right now.

The zero pointer shook the ground as it rose to the surface. People screamed and ran away, but Izuku fell to the ground. 

_ What is this feeling? _

He’d been scared before, but now he felt stiff. It wasn’t until somebody’s cried out for help that he found he could move. He jumped to his feet and ran towards the girl trapped in the robot’s path.

_ “The zero pointer is more like an obstacle!” _ Present Mic had said. He had left out the fact that this obstacle could easily kill a person. 

Izuku let instinct take over and he leapt into the air, green lightning dancing over his skin. He flew high, nearing the head of the robot, then punched the metal face. It shattered like glass and fell backwards, but now came the hard part.

Izuku yelped as he fell back to the earth, his legs and an arm flapping behind him uselessly. He tried to think of a plan… any plan would work so long as he didn’t hit the ground to hard. He decided he would punch with his remaining arm, the force should slow his fall just enough that he wouldn’t break his neck-

A slap to his face slowed him down. The girl he had saved then put her hands together and said “release,” dropping both him and the crate she was hovering to the ground. 

In the end, Izuku shattered every bone in his arm and leg and hadn’t defeated a single robot. 


	110. Results

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids get their exam results and have problems with the outcome.

The wait was torture for the four kids. They all waited for what felt like forever to get their results, then headed to the castle. 

It was dusty inside, and the lights were all off. It was the first time they realized how much Menneki had to put into the building to keep it from falling into disarray. Regardless, they saw the building as a safe place, so they sat in a circle and did rock paper scissors to see who would open their results first.

Izuku won, and ripped the envelope open. A hologram of All Might showed up, stating that he hadn’t earned a single villain point, however, saving that girl from the zero pointer had earned him sixty rescue points. Izuku Midoriya was in class 1-A of the hero course.

Next was Hitoshi, who opened his envelope in the same way as Izuku. He watched as his father Present Mic congratulated him on his high score, but apologized that his score wasn’t high enough for class 1-A. Hitoshi was a part of class 1-B, however, and still in the hero course. There was a bit of disappointment that he wasn’t with Izuku, but he was happy enough with spending lunch period and after school with them.

Third was Danny, who opened his envelope slowly to torture his friends. He chuckled before letting the hologram fall to the floor and begin. All Might stated that between his fifty villain points and thirty rescue points, he was the top student of the year. He would be in class 1-A.

Last of them was Sam, and she warned them to not get their hopes up. Present Mic was the one to announce her score included 12 villain points and 14 rescue points, meaning she was at the bottom of class 1-B. 

At the end of everything, the kids were all in the hero course, though in different classes. They were all thinking the same thing when the holograms were all seen and understood.

_ Where would Menneki be? _


	111. Welcome to you hero academia!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids have found their class and teacher... Thongs could be better

Danny and Izuku stood side-by-side in front of a giant door with a big “1-A” written on it. Once again, Menneki’s journal helped them find their way. They were slightly worried about why she had the school’s floor plans though. 

“After you,” Danny said.

“No. After you,” Izuku replied.

“I insist.”

They went back and forth nervously for a short while before being interrupted.

“Why don’t you both just go in together,” a familiar voice said. Both boys looked towards Eraserhead, who was laying in a yellow sleeping bag on the floor. The kids hurried into the classroom, nearly getting stuck in the door frame.

“This is the hero course,” Eraserhead said as he walked into the classroom and let his sleeping back fall to the floor. The class didn’t notice at first, but slowly began to stop chattering amongst themselves. “It took eight seconds for you to quiet down. Time is a precious resource. You lot aren’t very rational, are you.”   
  


Izuku and Danny looked around at his classmates, already deciphering a few of their quirks. A frog girl excited Izuku, but brought back bad memories for Danny. There was the gravity girl from Izuku’s exam, and an invisible girl that seemed interesting to them both. A boy with red and white hair in the back of the class quietly and expressionlessly as he waited for class to begin. 

The kids all filed out, giving Izuku a chance to evaluate what he could about everybody’s quirk from what he could see. He had yet to see most of them, but was still able to guess a few. 

Once outside and changed into their PE uniforms, it was time for a test to begin. A test of quirks. Danny patted Izuku on the back gently as the boy panicked a little inside.

“What about the entrance ceremony?! Or the guidance sessions?!”   
  
“No time to waste on that stuff if you want to become heroes.” Eraserhead- or Aizawa Shota, as he wanted to be called- grabbed a ball and stared at it. “UA is known for its freestyle education system. That applies to us teachers as well.”   
  
He began listing physical tests the students would’ve done in school. Well, everybody but Danny and Izuku since they didn’t actually attend one for most of their time. Aizawa called Bakugou up for a soft ball throw, then told him to use his quirk as well.

“DIE!!!” Bakugou yelled, putting a large explosion behind his throw. It blew back the students’ hair and kicked up dust into everybody’s eyes, but the distance of the throw was so amazing most of them kept their eyes wide open to watch the ball drop and roll across the ground. 

705 meters.

A few kids got excited, said the wrong thing. “That was amazing! This’ll be so much fun.”   
  
Danny and Izuku stiffened at the sight of Aizawa’s expression. It was dead and threatening at the same time. It wasn’t long before the threat of expulsion for the person in last place to come up. The two weren’t surprised, but that didn’t help any with their worry.

Once again Izuku and Danny thought back to Menneki’s notebook- and not for the last time- about the school. She’d listed information about the teachers, including the fact that Aizawa had expelled nearly 200 hundred students throughout his career, including an entire class of freshmen. 

** _Event 1: 50 meter dash._ **

Izuku wasn’t in any way weak, but his physical strength was useless against all the kids gifted with physical quirks. Tenya had engines on his legs that allowed him to finish the test in 3.04 seconds. Danny had difficulties as well, but was able to let his super strength slip through so he finished in about 6 seconds. Izuku was in no way last in the dash, but he was still near the bottom of the list.

** _Event 2: grip test._ **

540 kilograms for Mezou Shoji. He was the one with the most interesting mutation, in Izuku’s opinion. He had odd wing-like grows on his back that he could shape and change into what he wanted. Danny was busy trying to focus all his power into one arm without blowing it up to notice the ruckus around Shoji. He got 79 kilograms, and smiled before releasing his power. His arm, with a slight green tint to it and veins popping out, watched as it went back to normal. He ignored the way Aizawa glared at him for overexerting. Izuku squeezed his, but only got 61 kilograms. He looked to be near tears.

Over and over, throughout the events, Izuku ran over the words of assistance that All Might had given him. He needed to regulate the power, but he couldn’t figure it out no matter what he tried. Side steps was easy, and he at least got fifth place on the standing long jump thanks to him always hopping over roof tops, but he knew he would do poorly when he tried the soft ball throw. He’d been saving his quirk for this event.

Danny patted him on the back, frowning. “Don’t hurt yourself over this, please. You aren’t even in last place, seriously!”

Izuku shook his head. Every other student had at least one event they excelled at, yet he was merely okay at each. Danny was maybe third out of them all, and Uraraka was probably tied with Izuku.

And then she threw the ball with her quirk, sending it into orbit around the world. Infinity. She was officially way above him.

Danny could see it in his friends’ eyes as the boy panicked walking up to the circle. Izuku drew his arm back, took a deep breath, then threw as far as he could. Danny sucked in his breath and closed his eyes, not wanting to see his best friend break his bones.

“46 meters,” Aizawa said. “I erased your quirk.”

“What- no! Why?!” Izuku cried. Bakogou seemed to stiffen in the crowd. “Eraserhead how could you?!”   
  


The other students in the crowd couldn’t read the hero’s expression but Izuku, who had known him for a year, could see the pain in his eyes. 

“I saw it, how you can’t control your quirk. You’d just be incapacitated again. If you can’t save yourself how can you hope to save others?”

Izuku could see the wheel’s in the man’s head turning. Eraserhead was trying to figure out if he had gotten his powers the same way Danny did. He was itching to ask, and the boy’s knew they would do anything to keep it a secret.

“You’ve got your quirk back… give it another go kid.”   
  
_ “Where are you guys?” _ Sam asked within their chatroom. Hitoshi began humming something, and the speech Nezu was giving at the entrance ceremony slipped in and entered the back of their minds. 

_ “Eraserhead is our teacher and he’s threatening to expel whoever gets the worst score on a quirk evaluation he’s giving us.” _ Danny explained while Izuku tried to figure out how to throw the ball with his quirk without incapacitating himself.

_ “I got it!” _ Izuku thought before throwing the ball. Green lighting danced over his arms before he threw the ball into the air.  _ “I’ll give it my all in the smallest way.” _

Danny winced as Izuku shattered his finger. The ball flew 706 feet, surprising everybody, especially Bakugou.

“What the hell?! Explain yourself Deku!” Bakugou darted forward, using his quirk to boost his speed. Danny’s instinct told him to rush to his friend’s side, but his mind told him it was unnecessary. Aizawa readied himself to stop the bully but stopped when Izuku moved into a defensive stance.

See, the thing about Bakugou is that no matter what his age is, he always starts his fight with a left hook. It was simple and easy for Izuku to dodge and grab the boy’s uniform, twisting to throw him into the ground at the teacher’s feet.

The kids looked surprised, but Bakugou just laid on the ground for a moment, listening to a voice in his head telling him to calm down before he got hurt.

In the end, Izuku really did get last place, but Aizawa informed them that he had lied about the last person being expelled. A “rational deception” as he called it. Hitoshi couldn’t stop laughing when the kids informed him after school that day.

“You guys excited for Hero Basic training tomorrow?” Hitoshi asked. He looked truly happy for the first time since Menneki had been taken. As they talked and laughed as they walked home.

Home… it’s where you feel safest. For these kids “home” was a small building on the beach. Lights twinkled above them, and photos were hung on the walls. This home held good memories with dark undertone. It had been the home of one of the most dangerous villains in all of Japan.

Now, though, it was home to four great heroes in training.

“Menneki would be proud.”

And indeed she was.


	112. When the good man goes to war.

A young girl sits in a cell, arms stuck in the wall behind her thanks to cement grown around them. She had cried before, when they tortured her, but now she wasn’t there mentally. Her eyes stare at the walls and floors around her, dead and glassy as they try to heal from being cut with knives. Her previously black eyes were different colors now, blue and green and foggy from growing back after being plucked from their sockets over and over.

That’s the thing with this girl, she had not only her mother’s quirk but also her father’s. Regeneration. No matter what these people do to her, she constantly regenerates any cuts or missing limbs. 

She can’t remember how long she’s been here. A month? A year? She wondered if the heroes even cared enough to rescue her. As soon as the questions started pushing their way to the front of her thoughts she receded farther into her mind to stop them. She stopped eating a couple days ago, but she barely even noticed the tubes and needles going into her arms and down her throat. She felt nothing despite the toes and fingers that were slowly growing back wrong. Her nails aren’t supposed to be black, and they were so thick she could slice her own throat with them. 

Not like it would kill her though.

The dripping water from the ceiling was so distracting she nearly returned to the present trying to listen to it, but them she focused on the universe in her mind. The dark and star-filled sky within her head offered protection from the real world.

Loud yelling outside the door made her fall deeper into her mind. It was the hand boy, the one who had taken her limbs so many times. Her regeneration was faster than his quirk, but only by a little, making torture by him far worse than anything she’d ever felt.

The door flung open. The boy walked in closely followed by his portal villain babysitter. 

She didn’t look at them, she stared straight through them and into the door. Against her will, she slowly returned to the real world. The hand boy knelt in front of her, lifting her head up with one finger. 

“Your eyes are growing back nicely,” he hissed. He smiled at her, and she couldn’t help but smile. “You can keep them if you tell us what you know about All Might. I know you saw him when he was in his true form.”   
  


She said nothing, just stared at him with dead eyes before whispering something. *”When I am gone, what will you do? Who will write and draw for you? Someone smarter- someone new? Someone better- maybe you?”

The boy sneered in annoyance before slapping her. She receded into her mind as the skin on her face turned to dust. 

“Tell me about that Eraserhead fellow.”

*”Demons run when a good man goes to war. Nightfall will come and drown the sun.When a good man goes to war. Friendship dies and true love lies. Night will fall and the dark will rise. When a good man goes to war.”

They listened to the entire poem, watching as the girl’s eyes turned to dust once again. The handprint on her face scarred in a silver, spiderweb-like way that branched out across her entire face.

*” Demons run, but count the cost..."

The hand boy stood and made his way out. “You’re running out of time, Adrestia. You will give me what I want, or my master will do to you what he did to your father.”

The metal door slid shut, enveloping her in a darkness she couldn’t see.

*”The battle's won, but the child is lost.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think? More angst? Less? Let me know in the comments what you want to see more of.


	113. Steal and destroy

Momo often heard her little brother crying in his room down the hall from her. He’d been released from the hospital with nothing more than some words of warning for their parents.

_ “He was brainwashed for over a year, it might’ve caused lasting damage.” _

Nobody knew what that meant. Her little brother- who still only replies to the name Youngblood- was constantly stealing and destroying things around the house. Momo refused to tell their parents, and instead tries to talk to the boy about it.

_ “If it’s so wrong why don’t they actually do something about it?!” _ Youngblood would scream. He was so angry and sad all the time, crying almost constantly and waking up screaming at night. Their parents never noticed, and Momo wasn’t good at helping people. 

She cursed herself.

“How am I supposed to be a hero if I can’t help my own brother?” She slowly made her way down the hall and opened the door slightly. “Are you okay?”   
  
Youngblood sat in the center of his room crying, but she couldn’t see him. His sobbing stopped, making it impossible to tell where he was.

“Leave,” he said from behind her. He must’ve snuck out and into the hall. She spun around and looked for him.

“Please, just talk to me. I just want to help you!”   
  
Youngblood said nothing, but the light steps on the would floor let her know he was running away. She sighed, then returned to bed.

She woke up to a fire alarm blaring. 

She scrambled out of bed and ran down the hall to get her brother, only to find he wasn’t in bed.

“My lady!” Her butler called, running up the stars and standing in the hall waving frantically at her. “We need to leave.”   
  
She would’ve laughed at his heart- spotted pjs if the situation wasn’t so serious. “Where’s my brother?!”   
  
The butler didn’t reply, just threw her over his shoulder and created jump over the railing. His falling slowed down until he landed lightly on the floor and ran again. He was faster than she was, even with her on his shoulder. 

“Haru! Youngblood!” She screamed, catching sight of the flames spreading rapidly through the halls as she was carried through the front door. “Momma! Papa!” 

Youngblood was outside, staring up at the flames as they grew higher and the smoke blocked out the stars. Momo saw him and immediately twisted out of the Butler’s arms to run to the boy.

She pulled the young boy into a hug, crying at the sight of him. Her hands brushed over his pocket, and she slowly pulled away and grabbed the object. A box of matches, with a small symbol of a seven sided star on it. 

“You set the fire?” She gasped, but the boy continued staring at the smoke with a far-away look in his eyes.

“Steal and destroy,” he whispered. “He keeps saying steal and destroy, I can’t make it stop.”

This must be the lasting damage they had told her about.


	114. Lol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I found this and it's not really important but I have a horrible sense of humor so here it is.

"Can you believe that Adrestia got away with another bank robbery?!"

"Yeah, haha, weird," Menneki replied half-heartedly while she tried to count a stack of bills in front of her.


End file.
